This story has been updated with new information about attending the community meeting virtually.
A person at a Santa Paula elementary school has tested positive for tuberculosis disease, spurring public health and school efforts to determine who may have been exposed.
The case of the highly contagious, airborne disease involves McKevett Elementary Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Ventura County public health officials said Aug. 14. They said they received the positive test result on Aug. 11, the first day of the school year.
The person was not at school on opening day but the symptoms started months earlier, raising concerns he or she could have been contagious before school let out for summer, said Ventura County Health Officer Dr. Uldine Castel.
"We don't know when they were initially infected," Castel said. She declined to identify whether the case involved an adult or a student, citing patient privacy laws. She also released no information on the person's condition.
Families and staff at the school were notified of the possible exposure by the Santa Paula Unified School District.
A public health team is working to identify students and staff who had close contact with the person. Testing is set to begin next week. School district officials said not everyone at McKevett will require testing.
A community meeting to talk about testing and answer questions about TB will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at Isbell Middle School, 221 South St., Santa Paula.
People can also attend the meeting virtually at https://tinyurl.com/33wxkhzs. Or they can dial in by phone at 1-805-947-0499 and use the phone conference code of 233-374-656#.
"We understand that hearing about any illness in a school community can be concerning," Santa Paula Unified School District Superintendent Jeffrey Weinstein said in a message to the school community. "Please know that all classrooms and facilities at McKevett underwent deep cleaning this past summer. We want to assure you that the safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priorities."
Tuberculosis can take as long as several months to emerge. It is a serious, treatable and slow-growing bacterial disease. It usually affects the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. It is transmitted through microscopic droplets that enter the air when a person coughs or sneezes.
Public health officials emphasized the difference between tuberculosis infection and active disease. People with the disease are sick from germs that are active in their bodies. They can spread the infection. Their symptoms can include frequent coughing, fever, weight loss, night sweats and fatigue.
People who are infected but don't have the disease are not ill and cannot spread the TB germ. About 1 of 10 people with the infection become sick with disease at some time in their life. The disease can be treated with oral medications.
Castel said exposures at schools are fairly rare but have happened, citing cases involving Oxnard schools in 2018.
"Obviously when kids are involved, it is more concerning and everyone's alerts are up more," she said. "But we are prepared and have everything in place to help everybody."
People with questions can call a public health hotline at 805-385-9444.
The public can also find information at www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/TBCB.aspx or at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/tb/index.html.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at [email protected].
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