On this page
- Información en español
- What is happening?
- What is TB? What are the risks and concerns with TB?
- How contagious is TB? What is the risk level to other students, staff, and families?
- What happens if I was exposed?
- Do I need to cancel travel or stay away from family?
- What does a TB test involve?
- Why is the Health Department recommending a second TB test later?
- What if I am infected?
- I have tested positive and/or been treated for TB before and was told I was exposed. What now?
- What is the difference between latent and active TB?
- I’m expecting a child. How will this affect me?
- Who is the source of the TB exposure?
- If I haven't been asked to come in for TB testing, does that mean I'm not at risk?
- What is being done to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
- Who is in charge?
- What does the Health Department's Communicable Disease Services Program do?
- More information
Información en español
What is happening?
Someone at Lane Middle School was recently found to have tuberculosis (TB) of the lung. This means some staff and students may have been exposed to TB.
Multnomah County Health Department is working closely with school district leadership to notify potentially exposed individuals and recommend testing.
What is TB? What are the risks and concerns with TB?
TB is caused by a bacteria. It is spread through the air from one person to another when someone who is sick with TB coughs, speaks or sings. People who breathe the germs into their lungs can become infected.
Most people who have been exposed to TB will not become infected. A safe and simple skin or blood test can tell whether a person has been infected. TB disease can be treated and prevented with antibiotics. Learn more about TB»
How contagious is TB? What is the risk level to other students, staff, and families?
The risk to the Lane Middle School community is very low. TB is rarely spread in schools. People usually get infected as a result of close face-to-face contact for several hours with someone who has the disease – typically daily contact for weeks or months.
You are not likely to get TB from someone walking in the hallway or from a brief conversation. Tuberculosis is not spread by sharing clothing, dishes, or drinking glasses. It does not live on surfaces and is not spread through contact like shaking hands.
What happens if I was exposed?
Fortunately, most people who have had contact with a TB patient will not become infected. Also, people who have had contact can easily be tested to see if they have been infected. People who were potentially exposed have been contacted by the Health Department through an emailed letter from the school.
Families or staff with questions can call the Health Department's Tuberculosis Clinic at 503-988-3406. The Health Department will be providing free blood tests to the school community in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, you may also see your personal doctor or clinic for TB testing and/or treatment. Please call the Tuberculosis Clinic at 503-988-3406 if you plan to test with your doctor or clinic.
Do I need to cancel travel or stay away from family?
No. TB is a slow-moving disease. It takes months to years to become ill with TB and be potentially infectious to others. Exposed students and staff are very unlikely to pose a risk to their families, friends, or coworkers.
What does a TB test involve?
TB can be diagnosed with a skin test or a blood test. The blood test is used for all people in most cases.
The blood test is done like any other routine blood test and also looks for the body’s immune response to proteins that look like the TB bacteria. The results are available a few days after the blood sample is taken.
The Health Department will be providing free blood tests to the school community in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you may also see your personal doctor or clinic for TB testing and/or treatment. Please call the Tuberculosis Clinic at 503-988-3406 if you plan to test with your doctor or clinic.
Why is the Health Department recommending a second TB test later?
It can take up to eight weeks for the body’s immune system to respond to the TB infection and show up as a positive skin or blood test. If the first test is negative, a second TB test is done eight weeks after the sick person was last at the school to make sure the results of people exposed are truly negative for TB infection.
What if I am infected?
If you have a positive blood or skin test, you will be sent for a routine chest x-ray and asked about TB symptoms to look for early TB disease.
If you are feeling well and your chest x-ray is normal, you will be offered preventive antibiotics for latent TB infection to lower your chances of ever becoming sick with active TB. You can take treatment for the non-active or “latent” TB infection. It's your choice.
Treatment lasts anywhere from 3 months to one year, depending on a person’s medical history and other factors.
I have tested positive and/or been treated for TB before and was told I was exposed. What now?
Please call the Tuberculosis Clinic at 503-988-3406. Our staff will review your TB testing history in detail, make sure you do not have any symptoms of active TB disease, and make other recommendations based on your individual circumstances.
What is the difference between latent and active TB?
TB infection is diagnosed by a simple blood test or skin test. If the test is positive, the next step is a chest x-ray to make sure there are no early signs of TB disease.
Latent TB
Anyone with a positive TB test and a normal chest x-ray has latent (non-active) TB. They are not sick with TB and cannot spread the disease to others. Most will never become sick. For the few that do, it usually takes months or years to become ill and potentially spread TB to others. Taking antibiotics lowers the chances that someone with latent TB will ever become sick.
Active TB
Develops in about 10 percent of people with latent TB, and is more likely if you have a weakened immune system or medical condition like diabetes or kidney disease.
When you have active TB, you feel sick and have symptoms. TB can affect any organ in the body, but it most often affects the lungs (pulmonary TB). The symptoms of active pulmonary TB are typically fever, cough, night sweats and weight loss.
People with active pulmonary TB can spread the infection to others, usually those they spend the most time with. People with active TB in other parts of their body outside the lungs cannot spread the disease to others.
I’m expecting a child. How will this affect me?
TB testing is safe during pregnancy. Antibiotics to treat TB are also considered safe during pregnancy. But sometimes pregnant women choose to wait until after delivery to be treated.
Transmission of TB from mother to child during pregnancy is extremely rare. Talk to your doctor or clinic and let them know they can call us at 503-988-3406 for consultation.
Who is the source of the TB exposure?
Information about the sick person is protected by medical privacy laws.
If I haven't been asked to come in for TB testing, does that mean I'm not at risk?
If you do not receive a letter from the Health Department asking you to get a TB test, the risk of infection is likely very low. However, if you are concerned or develop any TB symptoms (persistent cough, fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss), contact your doctor or clinic.
What is being done to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
Whenever groups of people spend time together there is a risk of disease transmission. Health Department staff carefully look at each situation to see if anything can be done differently in the future to prevent the spread of a disease. We work with up to 30 cases of tuberculosis a year.
Who is in charge?
The overall public health investigation is being led by Zoe Rettell, TB Nurse Case Manager in collaboration with Dr. Paul Lewis, Multnomah County Health Department TB Clinic Medical Director. They are working closely with Multnomah Education Service District and Portland School District leadership.
What does the Health Department's Communicable Disease Services Program do?
Communicable Disease Services works to stop the spread of contagious diseases like TB. This is part of their core public health work, and it is something they do every day.
It includes the Communicable Disease Services Clinic, which works on TB disease investigations, provides case management and treatment of people with active TB. It also contacts people who have been exposed to TB.
More information
- Multnomah County Health Department Tuberculosis Clinic
- Tuberculosis - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
We understand that this news may be concerning. We are committed to keeping you informed and taking all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of our school community and families.
Please reach out if you have any questions about this information or TB in general. You can call our case management team at 503-988-3406.
