Tuberculosis Outbreak At Bay Area School Prompts Class Cancellations: Report

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A tuberculosis outbreak at a Catholic High School in San Francisco has prompted officials to cancel classes on Friday, according to a report from KRON4.

Three tuberculosis cases have been reported so far at Archbishop Riordan High School — the first one was confirmed in November, according to the report.

Instructors at the private school are now preparing to shift to "modified instruction," or hybrid learning, according to the report.

Tuberculosis is a disease that usually targets the lungs, but can impact other parts of the body, including the brain and spine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two types of the disease exist, active and inactive.

Active tuberculosis is when the germs are active in the person's immune system and can spread to others, according to the CDC.

With inactive, the person has the disease in the body, but it doesn't make them sick, and they cannot spread it to others. An inactive person can become active without treatment.

The disease can be contracted while traveling, living in large group settings, spending time with someone with active tuberculosis or working in places where it is more likely to spread, such as hospitals, according to the CDC.

It spreads when someone with tuberculosis coughs in the air. Those germs can stay in the air for several hours, depending on the environment they're in, according to the CDC.

Symptoms of tuberculosis include chest pain, coughing up blood, loss of appetite, chills, fevers, a cough lasting three weeks or longer and night sweats, according to the CDC. If left untreated, tuberculosis can be fatal, they added.

Read more from KRON4.