AURORA, Colo. — Initial testing indicates there was no transmission of Tuberculosis at Aurora Hills Middle School after public officials announced that students and staff there may have been exposed to a person with the disease over the course of the fall 2018 semester.
In a release, Denver Public Health said the initial testing showed no evidence of transmission at the school. Repeat testing of the same people who were potentially exposed will occur next month, according to the agency. People who were not contacted directly do not need to be tested.
In mid-January school officials said they were contacting people who may have been exposed to a person with tuberculosis, a largely-eradicated disease, over the course of the fall 2018 semester, according to a message sent home to parents. At the time, the school said those who were not contacted by January 18 were likely not exposed.
To get TB, according to the letter sent home to parents, a person must spend hours with someone who has it. It is contagious - but not in the ways most people think. You cannot get TB from just touching a doorknob, tables, utensils or other surfaces.
Denver health officials said that most people who are exposed to the disease do not get it and that most people who have TB can't give it to others unless they are sick.
Typical TB symptoms include a chronic cough, fever or night sweats that are persistent for several weeks and usually get worse, health officials said. A person who is infected with TB but not sick (it can take months or years for a person to get sick) can be treated to get rid of the infection to make sure they don't get sick in the future.
Additional facts about TB are available on the Denver Metro Tuberculosis Clinic’s website.
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