Tuberculosis Exposure Reported At Palomar High School

CHULA VISTA, CA — San Diego County public health officials were working Friday to notify students, employees and contractors at Palomar High School in San Diego's South Bay of a possible tuberculosis exposure during the 2023-2024 school year.

The county's Tuberculosis Control Program was working with the Sweetwater Union High School District to notify people potentially exposed to TB from Feb. 24 to June 5, 2024 at the school at 480 Palomar St, in Chula Vista, according to the county.

People with TB may be sick for months before they are diagnosed, health officials said. TB is an airborne disease that can be transmitted to other people who can inhale the bacteria from the air.

"Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss," said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, county interim public health officer. "Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later, if their latent TB infection is not treated. For people who think they may have been exposed, blood tests and skin tests are an effective way to determine an infection."

Anyone who tests positive for a latent TB infection should get a chest x-ray. Medicine can be taken to prevent them from getting sicker later, health officials said.

An estimated 175,000 people in the county have latent TB infection, according to the county. Of these, 5-10% may develop active TB disease at some point in their lifetime if they go without preventive treatment.