AURORA, Colo. — All students and staff who were at Aurora Hills Middle School during the fall semester will now be tested for tuberculosis after a new round of testing showed some people who were exposed to TB were infected, Denver Public Health said.
Initial testing in January did not show that anyone got infected with TB at the school. However, repeat testing last week of the same people who were exposed showed that some have been infected, but none of them are sick, a news release from Denver Public Health said.
Due to those tests results the testing is being expanded. This new round of testing will begin on March 4. All students and staff who were at the school in the fall have been contacted about the need to be tested.
In mid-January school officials said they were contacting people who may have been exposed to a person with tuberculosis, a largely-eradicated disease, over the course of the fall 2018 semester, according to a message sent home to parents. At the time, the school said those who were not contacted by January 18 were likely not exposed.
To get TB, according to the letter sent home to parents, a person must spend hours with someone who has it. It is contagious - but not in the ways most people think. You cannot get TB from just touching a doorknob, tables, utensils or other surfaces.
Denver Public Health has not found anyone else who is sick from TB, so there is no ongoing risk for TB exposure at the school. People with TB infection who are not sick cannot give TB to other people. Denver Public Health is providing treatment for people with TB infection to protect them from getting sick in the future.
TB is a disease caused by germs that are spread between people through the air. It usually affects the lungs but may also affect other parts of the body.
- Most people who are exposed to TB do not get infected.
- People who are infected cannot give TB to others unless they are sick.
- Typical symptoms of tuberculosis are chronic cough, fever, or night sweats that are persistent for several weeks and usually getting worse.
- A person who is infected with TB but is not sick can be treated to eliminate the infection to prevent them from getting sick in the future.
- Additional facts about TB are available on the Denver Metro Tuberculosis Clinic’s website.
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