Health
Tuberculosis outbreak linked to prominent high school, officials investigating
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An outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) has been linked to a San Francisco high school.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) issued a health advisory on Jan. 29 about the outbreak, which has been tied to Archbishop Riordan High School.
TB is a curable bacterial infection that targets the lungs, but can also infect other organs, according to Johns Hopkins. It is an airborne contagion that can be spread through coughing, sneezing or saliva.
Three active TB cases have been diagnosed among people associated with Archbishop Riordan High School since November 2025, according to the advisory, and over 50 latent TB infections have been identified within the school community.
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A person with a latent infection has been infected with the tuberculosis bacteria, but the bacteria are inactive in the body.
While latent-stage TB is not contagious, it can develop into active disease in 5% to 10% of people.
An outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) has been linked to a San Francisco high school (not pictured). (iStock)
“Efforts are underway to assure preventive treatment for all these individuals,” the advisory states.
The school’s staff and students have been instructed to stay home if they are sick and to get medical clearance from a doctor before returning.
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“Additionally, TB evaluation is required for all students and staff affiliated with the school, regardless of symptoms,” the advisory stated. “Repeat TB assessment will be required every eight weeks until the outbreak is resolved.”
“At this time, risk to the general population is low, so these measures are not needed for patients who are not connected to the AHRS outbreak.”
“If you breathe, you can catch TB — so all people are at risk.”
In the U.S., more than 565 people died from TB in the most recent complete year of official data available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There is a greater than 10% case fatality rate in San Francisco, per health officials.
Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment
While around 25% of people have likely been infected with the TB bacteria, just 5% to 10% will experience symptoms and develop the disease. Only people with symptoms are contagious.
Those who get sick with TB may experience mild symptoms, including coughing, chest pain, fatigue, weight loss, weakness, fever and night sweats, according to the CDC.
TB is a curable bacterial infection that targets the lungs, but can also infect other organs, according to Johns Hopkins. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
In addition to the lungs, the disease can also affect the kidneys, spine, skin and brain.
“TB can affect any organ of the body, but it causes disease in the lung in over 80% of cases,” Masae Kawamura, M.D., a former TB control director in San Francisco and a tuberculosis clinician, previously told Fox News Digital. “This is dangerous because it causes cough, the mechanism of airborne spread.”
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In more severe cases, patients may cough up blood, noted Kawamura, who serves on the board of directors of Vital Strategies, a global public health organization.
“Often, there are minimal symptoms for a long time and people mistake their occasional cough with allergies, smoking or a cold they can’t shake off,” she added.
A person with a latent infection has been infected with the tuberculosis bacteria, but the bacteria are inactive in the body. (Janice Carr/CDC/AP)
TB can be identified with rapid diagnostic tests. The disease is treated with antibiotics that are taken every day for four to six months, the CDC states. Some of the most common include isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol.
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Failing to take the complete course of medications can cause the bacteria to become drug-resistant, which would then require treatment with different medications.
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If TB goes untreated, it is fatal in about half of its victims, according to Kawamura. “About 25% recover on their own and another 25% persist as chronic active TB cases,” she said.
Who is at risk?
“If you breathe, you can catch TB — so all people are at risk,” said Kawamura, who calls TB a “social disease of crowding and mobility.”
“Since TB is airborne, congregate settings like hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, jails, classrooms and homeless shelters are places TB is more easily spread, especially if multiple risks are involved,” she added.
Those at the highest risk of developing TB disease after exposure include people who have diabetes, have weakened immunity, are malnourished, use tobacco and/or drink excess amounts of alcohol. (iStock)
Those at the highest risk of developing TB disease after exposure include people who have diabetes, have weakened immunity, are malnourished, use tobacco and/or drink excess amounts of alcohol. Babies and children are also at higher risk.
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The best means of prevention is testing those at risk and treating latent tuberculosis infection, according to the doctor.
Fox News Digital reached out to Archbishop Riordan High School requesting comment.
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Stat of the week
More than 59% of women may have high blood pressure by 2050, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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