<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1ffr3D_0o2CIiwO00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ffr3D_0o2CIiwO00" width="1900" height="1069" ></figure>VANCOUVER, Wash. — Clark County Public Health is investigating a case of tuberculosis connected to a Vancouver elementary school.Public Health says the patient spent time at Minnehaha Elementary School before summer break.Parents and staff were notified of the case Friday.Health officials are now working to determine any close contacts and will notify those people within the next week.They only recommend testing for close contacts, not all staff and students.Health officials say that while tuberculosis is infectious, it is harder to transmit than other respiratory diseases like COVID or the flu. You would need to be in close or prolonged contact with an infected person to catch the bacteria.Public Health says usually, if someone gets infected, the body's immune system walls off the bacteria, making it latent or dormant, meaning the patient would not be showing symptoms or spread it to others. But it can make you sick in the future.Deputy Health Officer Dr. Tara Perti said only about 10% of people who are infected with the tuberculosis bacteria go on to develop tuberculosis disease.How concerned should parents be about the situation?"Parents shouldn't be that concerned about the situation," said Perti. "There's no risk for ongoing exposure from the individual with tuberculosis as they are being treated and are no longer infectious. Persons who have latent TB infection cannot spread the infection to other people. But we are trying to identify any individuals to make sure they are aware and can get treated, so they don't get sick in the future."According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of TB include a bad cough that last three weeks or longer, pain in the chest and coughing up blood or phlegm.</div></body>

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Case of tuberculosis connected to Vancouver elementary school

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Clark County Public Health is investigating a case of tuberculosis connected to a Vancouver elementary school. Public Health says the patient spent time at Minnehaha Elementary School before summer break. Parents and staff were notified of the case Friday. Health officials are now working to determine...