Gig Harbor Student Has Tuberculosis: Health Department

GIG HARBOR, WA - A Gig Harbor High School student has come down with tuberculosis, county health officials are reporting. Health officials say the student did not contract TB at school, and will not return to class until the infection has passed. But as a precaution, the health department is recommending that 10 Gig Harbor High School students and six staff members get tested.

The health department is working with the Peninsula School District on the testing, which will be offered for free to the affected people on April 25. Although tuberculosis is a serious disease, it is treatable, and it is hard to spread between people.

Here's more about tuberculosis from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department:

• Bacteria causes TB, and antibiotics cure it. The two stages of TB are infection and disease. A person who has latent TB infection is not sick and can’t infect other people. People with latent TB infection can develop active TB.
• How TB spreadsA person with lung TB can spread the disease when he or she coughs or sneezes, or shouts, laughs or sings.
• It doesn’t spread by sharing clothing, sharing eating utensils, kissing or hugging, or sexual activity. It doesn't spread in outdoor environments, where sunlight kills the bacteria.
• It is not easy to catch TB. People most at risk of becoming infected are those who spend many hours with someone who is contagious with TB. For more information about TB, visit www.tpchd.org/TB. You may also call (253) 798-6410.

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