Nebraska officials are testing 500 people at the Omaha-area YMCA drop-in day care center for possible exposure to tuberculosis after an outbreak at the facility created a public health emergency. The following children and staff are being tested.
On Thursday, Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Hughes declared a state of emergency at the Westview YMCA outside Omaha, citing the risk of spread of the disease. Exposure is believed to have occurred between May and late October. The incubation period for tuberculosis is 2 to 10 weeks.
Hughes said the patient was isolated at home and receiving treatment. Officials did not say whether the person was an adult or child or their gender, but confirmed on Monday that the person had tested positive and that a contact investigation revealed that the person or a relative had not attended the gym. They were urged to contact Westview YMCA Child Watch, a day care available to members. You can leave your child with us for up to 2 hours. The possibility of exposure was particularly high due to the fact that the person attended this nursery school. The current estimate is around 500 people, but the estimate is subject to change as family members and siblings are identified and, in some cases, excluded.
“It’s not that uncommon to find active tuberculosis cases,” Hughes told USA TODAY. “But what’s unusual is just the scale of the exposure.”
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This case’s symptom onset date is linked to August 21, allowing health officials to look back to May to fully understand who may have experienced symptoms in the past few months who did not think they had tuberculosis. There is a need to. Tracking becomes even more difficult when you consider the number of people coming in and out of day care centers.
“By its nature, if there’s someone in that room with an active disease, there could be more exposure,” Hughes said.
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Exposure to diseases like tuberculosis requires staying in small, confined spaces for long periods of time, Hughes said.in letter Hughes said when a person with tuberculosis bacteria in their lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, talks or sings, they can spread bacilli and bacteria into the air that others breathe, potentially infecting them. I’m writing to health care providers in the county.
Symptoms of tuberculosis include:
- Cough that lasts for several weeks.
- Chest pain;
- Cough up blood or phlegm.
- Weakness or fatigue.
- Chills, fever, night sweats.
- Weight loss or loss of appetite.
Children’s Nebraska, a children’s hospital in Omaha, was scheduled to hold a clinic Saturday and Sunday to test about 250 children under 4 who may have been infected in the past 10 weeks. Young children are considered to be at higher risk because they can get sick quickly and require treatment sooner than adults do, Hughes said.
In addition to baseline skin tests to look for the disease, hospital staff will also be administering window prophylaxis, a treatment for tuberculosis, as a preventive treatment to keep people from getting sick. After about 10 weeks, the same group will undergo another skin test to confirm infection.
In the next few days, The county is expected to open a clinic. The Westview YMCA plans to test another 350 people using skin and blood tests. Officials also plan to look for latent infections and treat them with drugs to prevent the infection from becoming active.
In an emailed response, the Greater Omaha YMCA said Westview Childwatch maintains an electronic record of check-ins, which helps officials conduct contact tracing for possible exposures. Stated. There is no longer a risk of exposure to tuberculosis at the center, the Department of Health said in an email, but the Westview YMCA will be closed Thursday and the facility will not provide support staff with the opportunity to test and perform tests. He plans to stay for a few days to give the gift. To get my children tested.
“This was an unfortunate and isolated incident,” Rebecca Deterding, president and CEO of the local YMCA, said in a statement. “Everyone exposed at the YMCA has been identified and directed to next steps for testing.”
County health officials reported 15 confirmed tuberculosis cases in 2022 and 15 confirmed cases through September 2023. 8,300 cases reported Nationwide in 2022.
Tuberculosis, formerly known as consumptive tuberculosis, has historically had a high mortality rate in the United States, but intensive public health efforts have dramatically reduced deaths and cases over the past century. .
“This is one of the oldest public health diseases,” Hughes said. “We have extensive experience in preventing the spread of infection and investigating incidents related to this matter.”
Eduardo Cuevas covers health and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can contact him at: [email protected].
