By Brian Konrad/Charles Lefebvre

Alberta Health Services notifying people in South Zone of potential TB exposure

Apr 3, 2019 | 10:36 AM

BROOKS, AB — Alberta Health Services is following protocol, and notifying people in the South Zone who might have been exposed to a confirmed case of tuberculosis.

In a news release posted on Wednesday, AHS says the exposure was in a school setting in Brooks. They are not naming the school for privacy reasons, and are working to notify people who may have been exposed.

Dr. Vivien Suttorp, medical officer of health for the South Zone, says there is no risk to the general public at this time.

“It is not a very infectious disease,” she said over the phone from Edmonton. “It is a unique disease in that people don’t get sick right away. If you are exposed to TB, your body reacts, and usually you get sleeping TB, so the bacteria gets walled off, and the bacteria is in your system, it’s sleeping, and dormant. It’s not infectious.”

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“At some point later on, when there’s stress or certain medication maybe, it can go from sleeping TB to reactivate, and then get infectious.”

Tuberculosis is a bacteria that primarily affects a persons lungs and airway. Symptoms of active tuberculosis include bloody mucus in a cough that lasts for more than two weeks, tiredness, weight loss, night sweats, and in rare cases, shortness of breath,

Only those who receive notification letters from AHS are considered exposed to this case.
 
Health officials are working to manage the follow up screening that’s routine in response to any potential exposure to active TB.

A skin test or a blood test is used to determine if a person has tuberculosis. If they are diagnosed with tuberculosis, it can be treated with medication.