Public health officials in Toronto say parents shouldn't panic after someone at an elementary school was diagnosed with an active case of tuberculosis.
Dr. Elizabeth Rea, associate medical officer of health for the city, says the person at St. Maria Goretti Catholic School was diagnosed last Tuesday.
She says the patient is doing well, and Toronto Public Health met with the principal last week to discuss the situation.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board would not say if the person with TB is a student.
Tuberculosis is a serious disease spread through coughing and sneezing, with symptoms such as a cough that lasts more than three weeks, fever and chills, night sweats, fatigue and weight loss.
A letter being sent home with students today says the general school population is "at very low risk of exposure and that only those with close contact are at risk and should be tested for TB."
School and public health officials are determining which students and staff are at risk and will contact them by Friday.
Rea said they will be advised to attend a clinic to get a TB skin test to determine if followup treatment, such as a chest X-Ray or antibiotics, is needed.
Toronto sees about 300 tuberculosis cases a year out of 2.7 million people and about 10 to 15 are students with TB, said Rea.
"This is not actually a particularly alarming or unusual thing," said Rea. "We do school contact followups as a routine when this happens."
In the 13 years she's been with Toronto Public Health, Rea says she's never seen a case of transmission within a school.
"It's hard to catch. It's nowhere near as infectious as something like influenza or measles," said Rea.
People who live in an infected person's household are more at risk, she said.
Toronto Public Health will hold two general information meetings at the school on April 14.
