Officials confirmed this week that there are three cases of tuberculosis at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health confirmed the outbreak Tuesday, though the first case was detected in November, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Health officials have not publicly disclosed whether the three patients are students, teachers or other staff.
City health officials told SFGATE that everyone at the school is being tested for tuberculosis. All students and staff are required to get the test by Feb. 20 or they will be barred from campus.
The Catholic school’s president, Tim Reardon, told Oakland’s KTVU in a statement that “we will take every measure available to ensure the safety and well-being of faculty, staff, students, and their families, and we are committed to providing frequent, consistent updates to members of the Riordan community.”
To reduce the risk of more tuberculosis cases developing, city health officials are telling the school to implement “masking indoors, and adjustments to certain indoor activities while screening continues,” officials told SFGATE.
Tuberculosis symptoms include weakness or fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever, chills and night sweating.
Other symptoms are dependent on which part of the body is infected. Tuberculosis in the lungs, for example, can cause harsh coughing that lasts for three weeks or longer, chest pain and coughing up blood or phlegm from within the chest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the lymph nodes, tuberculosis causes purple or red swelling underneath the skin. In the kidney, it can cause a person to have blood appear in urine, while tuberculosis in the spine can cause back pain. Tuberculosis infections in the brain can cause headaches or general confusion, the CDC said.
