San Diego County's Tuberculosis Control Program on Thursday is tracking three unrelated cases of tuberculosis at UC San Diego, the Sweetwater Union High School District and the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
According to the county, rates of the airborne disease have been rising since 2020 after decades of decline.
At UCSD, the county and university are alerting people who may have been exposed to someone with the illness from July 1, 2023 to March 20, 2024.
Another case, at Chula Vista High School, saw potential exposure from Feb. 23 to May 22 of this year.
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Finally, the county is working with the sheriff's office for possible exposure at the East Mesa Reentry Facility from Jan. 2 to June 5 of this year.
TB is a disease transmitted from person-to-person through inhalation of the bacteria from the air. The bacteria are spread when someone sick with TB coughs, speaks, sings or breathes. People with frequent and prolonged indoor exposure to a person who is sick with TB should get tested.
"Symptoms of active TB include persistent cough, fever, night sweats and unexplained weight loss," Dr. Ankita Kadakia, interim county public health officer, said in a statement. "Most people who become infected after exposure to tuberculosis do not get sick right away. This is called latent TB infection. Some who become infected with tuberculosis will become ill in the future, sometimes even years later if their latent TB infection is not treated. Blood tests and skin tests are effective in determining whether someone has been infected."
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Taking medicines for latent TB infection can cure the infection and keep these people from ever getting active TB disease.
According to the health agency, there were 192 TB cases in the county in 2020 and 201 people reported with active disease in 2021. In 2022, 208 people were reported with active TB disease in San Diego County.
An estimated 175,000 people in San Diego County have a latent TB infection and are at risk for developing active TB without preventive treatment, health officials said. People who test positive for TB, but who do not have symptoms of active TB, should get a chest X-ray and talk to a medical provider, as they may likely have a latent TB infection.
Anyone who would like more information on the potential exposures should call the county TB Control Program at 619-692-5565.
