Health Headline: Separate tuberculosis cases reported at 2 Long Island schools
Health Department officials are now in the process of contact tracing.
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A case of tuberculosis has been confirmed at two Long Island schools, Bethpage High School and Patchogue-Medford High School, according to a letter sent home to parents and guardians.
In Bethpage, the Nassau County Department of Health notified the school after the discovery was made that a person associated with the school had the bacterial infection.
The individual who contracted TB is being monitored by health care officials and is getting the necessary medical treatment, Bethpage Union Free School District Superintendent of Schools Dave Schneider wrote.
The letter also outlines how TB is spread, and how “the risk of transmission to the general school population is considered very low.”
Health Department officials are now in the process of contact tracing and will tell the appropriate parents if it's been determined that an individual is a close contact and needs to be evaluated.
Symptoms of TB to watch out for include:
A persistent cough that lasts three weeks or longer
Pain in the chest
Coughing up blood or sputum
Unexplained fatigue or weakness
Weight loss and loss of appetite
Fever and night sweats
In addition to Bethpage, a positive case was also discovered on Jan. 23 at the Patchogue-Medford High School. Letters went out to parents alerting them about the infection and another letter to those who might have been in contact with the infected individual.
Dr. Sharon Nachman, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, told News 12 that in order to contract TB, you have to be in close, sustained contact with someone for hours.
