Person affiliated with high school in Fairfield diagnosed with tuberculosis

Byby Katie Utehs KGO logo
Friday, February 17, 2017
Person affiliated with Fairfield school diagnosed with tuberculosis
More than 200 people will be tested for tuberculosis after someone tested positive for the disease at a Fairfield High School.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KGO) -- More than 200 people will be tested for tuberculosis after someone tested positive for the disease at a Fairfield high school.

Solano County health officials notified people of the active case Thursday.

The individual with tuberculosis may have been at the school for a few days to a week. Officials are not saying if this person is a student or staff member, only that he or she is affiliated with the high school.

Hundreds of people will be tested because of possible exposure.

Solano public health officials said students and staff should attend school and go to work as usual. They're trying to calm fears as parents learn of the case at Armijo High School in Fairfield.

"I'm hoping that they're taking care of this and that we're all informed," said Sanja Smith, a parent at the school.

A letter went out to parents Thursday after the patient tested positive last week. That's not fast enough for the mother of a student who recently had an organ transplant.

"I just feel like I should have been contacted if something like this was going on because of her medical condition," said parent Michelle Morehouse.

"TB is treatable," Dr. Michael Stacey of Solano County Public Health told ABC7 News. "And test results so far are showing that this particular strain is not resistant to any of the medications that we typically use to treat TB."

Investigators say more than 200 people may have been exposed. "It's not something that you get in passing through the hallways," said Stacey.

"It's a matter of spending prolonged periods of time in an enclosed space with the individual."

They'll receive letters and then be tested for tuberculosis within a week. Some parents aren't waiting.

Sanja Smith plans to call her child's doctor Friday. "We want to make sure that everything good, you know cause she's playing sports," she said. "And I don't know who she's come in contact with at all."

The infected person is recovering at home. A public meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday at the high school for concerned parents.