A tuberculosis scare at a Santa Paula elementary school has not brought any additional cases of the disease, indicating there was likely no transmission at the school, Ventura County public health officials said.
On Aug. 14, public health and Santa Paula Unified School District officials reported a person who had been at McKevett Elementary Academy of Visual and Performing Arts tested positive for the contagious disease. The person was at the school in the spring semester but has not been at McKevett or other district schools during the ongoing fall session.
The first symptoms emerged months earlier, raising concerns the person could have been contagious before school let out for summer. The disease can take several months to emerge.
School and health officials declined to say whether the person was a student or an adult, citing privacy laws. Dr. Uldine Castel, county health officer, also wouldn’t comment on the person’s condition.
Castel said on Sept. 4 that 59 of 61 people identified as contacts have been tested with efforts to locate the final contacts continuing. Results indicated no spread of the active disease in McKevett, a school of about 290 children.
“It’s extraordinarily good news. We get worried about kids. Kids are vulnerable,” she said.
Tuberculosis comes in both active and latent forms. People with the active disease become ill and have symptoms that can include frequent coughing, fever, weight loss, night sweats and fatigue. They are also contagious. TB is spread through microscopic droplets that enter the air when a person coughs or sneezes.
People with latent infections do not become ill and are not contagious. About 1 of 10 people with the infection become sick with the disease at some time in their life. The infection can be treated to prevent the transition to active disease.
Castel said “a few” cases of the latent infection were found in the recent round of tests, declining to specify the number to protect patient privacy. She said the latent infections found in the school are not believed connected to the person who tested positive in August.
Interviews are being conducted to help determine whether latent infections outside of the school are linked to the August case.
Jeffrey Weinstein, superintendent of the Santa Paula school district, said the initial TB scare caused a stir in the community but noted “things calmed down” when people learned more about the disease and how it spreads. He expressed relief at evidence suggesting there has been no transmission at the school.
“These are my kids and my families,” he said. “God forbid if we had a transmission. I would have been beside myself.”
Castel said a second round of testing will be conducted in 10 weeks as a safeguard to make sure there is no spread.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Tests from Santa Paula TB scare show no evidence of school spread
Reporting by Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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