San Diego's TB scare is far from over as yet another public space has come under the lens for potential exposure to the pesky pathogen. The MTS Trolley Blue Line riders, specifically the stretch from the 24th Street Transit Center to the Barrio Logan Transit Center, are the latest batch of locals to receive alerts about a possible run-in with tuberculosis, Hoodline reports. The exposure period spans from January 27 to February 29 during the midday hours, creating a window of risk for the city's commuters.
Building on the unease, the San Diego College of Continuing Education at the Cesar E. Chavez campus also deals with TB troubles. Overlapping with the exposure timeline on the Trolley Blue Line, campus goers at the computer lab in room 307 could have been exposed from Nov. 27, 2023, to Feb. 29, 2024, as per County News Center. The computer lab stirring suspicion was primarily in operation from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays, but those who used the lab at later times might also be at risk due to TB’s tenacity in the air.
Public health officials are sounding the alarm with reports showing TB cases are climbing the ladder in San Diego County. The County News Center has keyed in on a steady hike from 193 cases in 2020 to last year's 243, sounding the siren for what might become a burgeoning public health crisis. Approximately 175,000 individuals in the county are estimated to have latent TB infection, putting a portion of them on the edge of potentially developing full-blown sickness without adequate preventive measures.
In a county where the PUBLIC health response has increasingly grown weary of TB's persistence, the Tuberculosis Program under the Public Health Services Department is not taking any chances. They've stepped up their game, urging those with latent TB to take action. "People who test positive for TB, but who don’t have symptoms of active tuberculosis should get a chest x-ray and talk to a medical provider," they underline in a statement echoed on County News Center. Medication can nip the latent TB in the bud before it flourishes into anything more than a medical concern.
If you happened to be riding the rails or hitting the books during these exposure windows, diagnose any uneasy feelings by dialing up the County Tuberculosis Control Program at (619) 692-8621 for the real scoop or visit the County's dedicated tuberculosis page to use their risk assessment tool.
