TB outbreak at UCLA unlikely

After a UCLA student was diagnosed with infectious tuberculosis last week, the university notified 730 students, staff and faculty to receive testing for the disease.

The student’s name was not released for privacy purposes.

Frank Alvarez, director of the tuberculosis control program for the public health department, said his division worked with the diagnosed student to compile a list of people who he has likely come in close contact with since January.

The list includes classmates, professors and friends, among others.

Alvarez said the diagnosed student began treatment for tuberculosis early in the infectious stage of the disease, so the chance that the bacterium has spread to others is minimal.

Tuberculosis, while an airborne disease, is also not particularly easy to transmit, Alvarez said.

“In campus studies, TB outbreaks are almost unheard of,” he said. “Even on airplane studies, transmission is minimal. But it’s good precautionary practice to get screened.”

UCLA called this action a precautionary measure, although the university also advised all those who receive testing notifications to take them seriously.

“I don’t think this is a cause for major concern, but there is some risk, and students who were notified should get in touch with us,” said Susan Quillan, director of clinical services at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center.

Quillan said that the Ashe Center will provide free skin tests for the disease to eligible students and faculty.

Other medical providers can also administer the test.

Students who do not receive notifications from the university do not need to take any action, Quillan said.

She advised concerned students to make an appointment to talk to an Ashe Center physician.

It is rare for a student to be diagnosed with tuberculosis, and Quillan said that in 25 years of working at the university, she has never witnessed an outbreak of the disease.

She attributed this success largely to the efforts of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which determines who should receive testing notifications for tuberculosis.

If diagnosed with tuberculosis, a student can expect to take a dose of antibiotic drugs for six to 12 months, according to a fact sheet released by the Ashe Center.

The vast majority of tuberculosis strains are curable, especially when the disease is diagnosed early in its development, Alvarez said.

Patients who do not receive medication for the disease recover on their own about 90 percent of the time, he added.

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