SEATTLE — Public Health – Seattle & King County confirmed a diagnosis of “active tuberculosis” (TB) at a high school in south Seattle.
The health department is working to determine the extent of any potential exposure at the school.
TB is not easy to spread-- it’s a disease caused by bacteria that’s passed from person to person through the air. Unlike COVID or the flu, it takes repeated and prolonged exposure in a confined indoor space to spread.
Even in households with one person who is contagious with TB, only about 1-in-3 close household members become infected, according to Public Health.
Most cases of active TB are treatable with antibiotics that are commonly available; treatment typically takes six to nine months.
As a precaution in this case, Public Health is recommending that about 130 people associated with the school be evaluated for TB, based on the amount of time they were exposed to the person with TB in indoor spaces.
Rainier Beach High School will be directly contacting those who need TB evaluation, which includes a medical risk assessment and a TB test.
The person associated with the school who has active TB disease is receiving treatment from Public Health and is no longer considered contagious.
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