27CommentShare storySharetopics: TuberculosisRainier Beach HighPublic HealthExposureTreatmentLatent TBKing CountyInfectious diseaseSEATTLE — More than 100 people associated with Rainier Beach High School are being tested for Tuberculosis (TB) after one person was diagnosed and is now getting treatment for the serious, airborne disease.
As a precaution, Public Health is recommending that about 130 people in connection with the south Seattle school be evaluated, based on the amount of time they were exposed to the person with TB in indoor spaces.
The risk of possible exposure came as a shock to some students.
"This is crazy, man. Today, I was thinking, ‘Should I just stay home?’" RBHS Senior Anton Duro told KOMO News. "People are coming to school with masks now. It’s really weird to me. It’s like Covid all over again."
SEE ALSO | Tacoma woman cured of tuberculosis after court-ordered isolation, treatment
The school will contact those who need a medical risk assessment and a blood test. Public Health said all students, staff, and families are being informed of the case this week, regardless of their level of exposure, emphasizing "people in the community do not need to be monitoring for symptoms or concerned about TB spread."
TB is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that are passed from person to person through the air through coughing or sneezing, but Public Health said it is much harder to spread than COVID-19, a cold, or flu, and typically requires repeated and prolonged exposure in a confined indoor space to become infected. Even in households with one person who is contagious with TB, Public Health said, only about one in three close household members become infected.
"We will be doing testing really to ensure that the school community is safe," Medical Director of King County's TB Control Program Dr. Caitlin Reed told KOMO News.
People wearing blue as part of the Seattle-based non-profit Community Passageways have let students know how to respond.
"The team, when we’ve been outside, we’ve been telling the kids just stay fresh, stay clean, wash your hands," Community Passageways Co-Director Brandon Hill explained.
Public Health said the person associated with the school who has active TB disease is receiving treatment and is no longer considered contagious. Most cases of active TB are readily treatable with commonly available antibiotics, and treatment typically takes six to nine months, according to Public Health.
Officials also noted the difference between active TB disease and latent TB infection. People with latent, or dormant, TB infection cannot spread it to others and are not ill with the disease.
"Typically, what we look for are patients with what we call a latent infection. It’s dormant, sleeping; it’s not an infection that can be spread to anybody else but is contained fully by the immune system," Dr. Reed added. "We don’t expect to find a lot of infections or a big outbreak or anything like that."
Public Health estimates approximately 100,000 people in King County have latent TB infection. While they are not contagious, Public Health said they could potentially develop active TB in the future and infect others.
"We would encourage anyone who was born, resided, or traveled to countries that have more TB infection than the United States to seek TB infection testing from their primary care doctor, and if they do test positive, to take treatment so that they could reduce their lifetime risk of ever developing TB disease in the future," Dr. Reed added.
TB usually affects the lungs but can also affect lymph nodes, bones, joints, and other parts of the body.
"Our priority is to care for and support the Rainier Beach community during this time," Seattle Public Schools Chief of Staff Bev Redmond wrote in a statement. "We will continue to partner closely with PHSKC and remain committed to keeping the Rainier Beach school community informed as this process moves forward."
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (27)The last time King County had a case of active TB associated with a K-12 school was in 2023. Officials estimate there are about 100 cases of active TB per year.
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