Derby, PA (WPVI) — One student at Pennwood Middle School in the William Penn School District has tested positive for tuberculosis, according to the Delaware County Health Department.
Representatives are working to identify Derby students and staff who may have been exposed to the disease.
Health officials believe that tuberculosis is not as contagious as influenza and requires prolonged close contact (at least about 15 hours per week) to spread, so students and staff should be proactive in school settings. It emphasizes that you can continue learning.
“The critical first step is to identify close contacts of an infected person,” DCHD said in a statement issued Monday. I have been notified.”
Concerned parents should call the Wellness Line at the Delaware County Health Department Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We.
Tuberculosis is rare. The latest CDC data for 2021 shows 7,882 reported cases nationwide. Pennsylvania reported 166 cases, New Jersey 292, and Delaware 41.
“It’s bacteria that people breathe into their lungs, and many people breathe it in, and for a while nothing happens. The body walls up the bacteria, and they lie dormant for probably decades after the first exposure,” says Debra. said Dr. Powell, Director of Infectious Diseases at Tower Health and Interim Chair of the School of Medicine.
Powell says it can remain latent and hidden, or it can become active.
“What happens with active tuberculosis, after that organism gets into the lungs, it starts forming like a kind of pneumonia. It infects in the lungs, gets into the airways, and starts coughing. Others. In active cases, they have symptoms: children with fever, cough weight loss, night sweats, and those are infectious people,” she added. rice field.
So how contagious is it?
“People we see with TB are typically in the same household or in the same classroom as the proband for an extended period of time. We don’t come into contact with people by accident,” Powell said.
Tuberculosis is not spread by:
– shake someone’s hand
– Share food and drinks
– touching bed linen and toilet seat
– Share toothbrush
– kiss
Click here for details TB from CDC:
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