The County’s Tuberculosis Program is working with the Sweetwater Union School District (SUHSD)to notify students and staff who were potentially exposed to tuberculosis (TB) at Sweetwater High School from July 19, 2023 to Dec. 15, 2023.
The school district and County officials have notified people at highest risk of infection. No-cost TB screening is being arranged for students who are at increased risk of infection.
TB is an airborne disease that is transmitted from person to person through inhalation of bacteria from the air. The bacteria are spread when someone sick with TB coughs, speaks, sings, or breathes. People with frequent or prolonged indoor exposure to a person who is sick with TB should get tested. Brief interactions with a person with contagious tuberculosis are less likely to lead to TB infection than are prolonged or repeated exposures.
“Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., County public health officer. “Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. If latent TB infection is not treated, some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later. Blood tests and skin tests are effective to determine whether someone has been infected.”
Effective treatments are available to cure people who are sick from active TB.
People who test positive for TB, but who do not have symptoms of active TB, should get a chest x-ray and talk to a medical provider, as they most likely have a latent TB infection. People in this situation are infected with TB, but the infection is essentially dormant or “sleeping.”
Taking medicines for latent TB infection can cure the infection and keep people from getting sick.
It is especially important for individuals with symptoms of active TB and those who are immunocompromised to see a medical provider to rule out active TB and to discuss preventive treatment.
The number of people diagnosed with active TB in San Diego County has decreased since the early 1990s and has stabilized in recent years. There were 192 cases in 2020 and 201 people reported active disease in 2021.
In 2022, 208 people were reported with active TB disease in San Diego County. Information on TB disease in 2023 will be announced soon. An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have latent TB infection and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment.
Individuals who would like more information on this potential exposure should call the County TB Control Program at 619-692-5565.
