Tuberculosis case reported at Ventura County elementary school, health officials testing students
Ventura County public health officials are warning of a case of tuberculosis disease reported at a Santa Paula elementary school.
Health officials said they received the positive test result on August 11, on the first day of school for McKevett Elementary Academy of Visual and Performing Arts. It is not known if the infected person is an adult or a child.
Exposure is a concern, as TB germs can easily spread through the air when an infected person coughs or speaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tuberculosis is a serious, treatable, and slow-growing bacterial disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There are two variants: inactive TB or active TB disease. TB germs can live in the body without making a person sick, making it inactive TB.
Without treatment, people with inactive TB can develop active TB disease at any time and become sick, and it could become fatal if not properly treated.
TB germs become active if the immune system can't stop them from growing; this is active TB disease. People with TB disease feel sick, with symptoms primarily affecting the lungs.
Symptoms of active TB disease include:
- A cough that lasts three weeks or longer
- Chest pain
- Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs)
- Weakness or fatigue
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Chills
- Fever
- Night sweats
VCPH is in the process of evaluating all students, staff, and faculty who may have been exposed to TB, and parents have been notified.
Health officials will host an informational meeting on Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. to answer questions and to share information about the risk of exposure to TB and plans for testing.
The meeting will take place at Isbell Middle School at 221 South 4th Street in Santa Paula.
There is a vaccine for TB disease, but it is not generally used in the U.S.
