SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diego health officials say people at two Sweetwater Union High School District schools may have been exposed to tuberculosis recently.
Officials said the first exposure took place at San Ysidro High School between Feb. 15 and June 2. The second incident happened at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista between Aug. 28 and Aug. 30, according to San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA).
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Staff and students at San Ysidro High School have been notified and will be offered free testing on Sept. 8 at the campus. Hilltop High School staff and students will be notified, according to HHSA, and testing will take place on Sept. 11. at the school.
HHSA said cases of TB are not uncommon in the San Diego region, but they have been decreasing over the last couple of years. The county reported 234 TB cases in 2015 and 258 cases in 2016, but have only seen 130 cases so far in 2017.
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"Symptoms of active TB disease include cough, fever, night sweats, and unexplained weight loss," County public health officer Wilma Wooten said. "Most people who are exposed to TB do not develop active disease. Those who test positive for TB can be treated with medication to prevent or cure active disease; that’s why it’s important for those with possible exposure to get tested."
For more information, HHSA recommends calling the county's TB Control Program at 619-692-8621.
