Tuberculosis case confirmed at Vancouver high school

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Students and staff are being screened at Templeton Secondary School after a case of infectious tuberculosis was confirmed, but the health authority says there is no ongoing risk to the community.

Tuberculosis causes infection in the lungs but can be treated with antibiotics.

“Most students and staff at Templeton Secondary have not been exposed and will not require screening,” says Vancouver Coastal Health in a statement. “Vancouver Coastal Health is working with the Vancouver School Board to identify students and staff that may have been exposed and would benefit from screening.”

Infection with Tuberculosis–even after exposure–is rare.

“The vast majority of individuals who are exposed to a case of TB do not become infected. Most people who become infected with TB do not become sick and do not become infectious,” according to the health authority.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control there were 82 reported cases of Tuberculosis in the Vancouver Coastal Health region in 2017.

“Active TB incidence in BC remains higher than the Canadian rate because of the relatively high proportion of people living in BC who were born in TB endemic areas where exposure to TB is common. In BC, the vast majority of active TB cases are among people who were born outside Canada and are largely due to reactivation of latent TB infection (i.e., from exposures to TB earlier in their lives) and not from local transmission.”