Allegheny County Health Department investigating tuberculosis case at Brentwood High School
The Allegheny County Health Department is investigating a case of active tuberculosis in a student at Brentwood High School, department spokesman Aaron Aupperlee reported Monday.
“The student has attended school remotely from the beginning of the current school year, is receiving medication to treat the illness, and is expected to resume normal activities in the near future, Aupperlee said via email.
Both the district and health department are working to identify those who may have been exposed.
“Close contacts of the student and the student’s family have been tested,” Aupperlee said. “If additional close contacts are identified, they will be contacted and instructed on testing.”
District Superintendent Amy Burch informed district families about the high school case via letter Friday.
The letter and information about tuberculosis was posted on the district’s website.
“We are keenly aware that this news will be extremely unsettling to our families,” the letter read. “It is for this reason that we requested the ACHD schedule informational Zoom meetings for our staff and our families.”
Those meetings were to take place Monday.
The letter also explained tuberculosis, how it is spread and other details.
“Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease that is spread only through the air from one person to another. TB cannot be spread by casual contact like kissing, shaking hands or hugging or through sharing food, drinks or utensils.
“Also, it cannot be spread via surfaces. The only way to contract the disease is to breathe in the bacteria by being extremely close to an infected person for a long period of time while they are coughing, sneezing, singing, or talking. Tuberculosis is serious disease but is rare, preventable and treatable with antibiotics. A person with TB will become non-infectious within a few days to weeks of effective treatment and will be able to return to normal activities without risk to others while completing treatment. Symptoms of TB can include a cough of longer than three weeks, unexplained weight loss, night sweats, chills, fever and coughing up blood.”
Families that seek more information can contact the county health department at 412-578-8162 or the district offices at 412-881-2227.
Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive reporter covering general news in Western Pennsylvania, with a penchant for festivals and food. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.
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