Tuberculosis

No one is at immediate risk of any health problems.  TB is a disease that generally develops over weeks to months, and it is completely curable with medications.  TB is NOT immediately life threatening nor an emergency.

The health department conducts an extensive contact investigation to identify high-risk contacts. Close contacts for TB are individuals who share a household, workspace, or enclosed environment with an infectious person for extended periods. Individuals who are identified as contacts are contacted by the health department for a TB skin test. 

Once a person has been exposed to TB and has a positive skin test, that person may become ill with TB in the future.  The risk of becoming ill depends on that person’s immune system; people with weak immune systems are more likely to become ill than people with normal immune systems. 

For a person with a positive skin test and a normal immune system, there is about a 5% risk of becoming sick with TB during the first 2 years after exposure.  There is an additional 5% risk of becoming sick with TB at some point later in life, more than 2 years after the initial exposure.  A person can become sick with TB 20 or more years after an exposure occurs

Not everyone at the school will necessarily need TB testing. Public Health is reviewing the potential exposures and identifying individuals who need evaluation. If you or your child is identified as someone who needs testing, you will receive information with next steps. Identified individuals were sent a letter with instructions for follow up testing. 

Being present at Seventy-First High School does not, by itself, indicate a TB exposure or a need for testing. No action is currently recommended based solely on presence at the school.

Parents, friends, family members, or others who have been in contact with a person identified as a close contact, do not need to be tested. Tuberculosis (TB) is spread through the air from one person to another when an infected person with active TB coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. 

A positive skin test does not mean that a person is sick with TB.  If you or your child has a positive skin test, (s)he will need a chest x-ray to make sure that (s)he is not sick with TB.

The health department conducts an extensive contact investigation to identify high-risk contacts. Close contacts for TB are individuals who share a household, workspace, or enclosed environment with an infectious person for extended periods. Not all individuals at the school are considered close contacts and the general public is not a risk.

No. There is only one confirmed case of tuberculosis related to Seventy-First High School. As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a TB outbreak occurs when there higher-than-expected number of cases for a specific time and location. There must also be an epidemiological link between cases. 

To protect individual privacy, no further information about the individual will be released.

Prior to releasing information publicly, the health department must begin the case investigation. The case investigation and patient follow-up began immediately upon receiving the confirmed positive case. TB case investigations require significant time and follow up with the impacted individual to assure they are receiving appropriate clinical care and to identify high risk contacts. Once contacts are identified, staff collaborate with the State TB Medical Director and NC DHHS to assess risk and refer individuals for a TB skin tests. Letters were sent home with students identified as possible close contacts, a ParentLink message was shared with the Seventy-First High School community and other employees identified as possible close contacts received direct email notification from CCS Health Services. 

TB is a disease that often affects the lungs.  People who are sick with TB often have one or more of the following symptoms:

• Cough lasting over 3 weeks 
• Coughing up blood 
• Fever 
• Profuse sweating at night, often soaking the bed sheets 
• Unintentional weight loss 
• Poor appetite 
• Chest pain or discomfort 
• Difficulty breathing 
• However, all of these symptoms can be caused by many other diseases besides TB 
  
  

TB is transmitted when a sick person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.  The germs are expelled into the air, and if a nearby person breathes them in, that person can become infected with TB. TB is killed relatively quickly by sunlight, so transmission usually occurs indoors 

TB infection is diagnosed by a skin test.  A small amount of liquid is injected under the skin of the arm.  A healthcare worker examines this arm 2-3 days later.  If the area where the liquid was injected swells up, this indicates that the person has been exposed to the TB germ at some point during her/his lifetime.  A positive skin test does not mean that a person is sick with TB.