Child care worker is diagnosed with tuberculosis

EVERETT – A person who works part time in a child care center in Snohomish County has been found to have active tuberculosis, the second such case reported locally in the past week.

Dr. M. Ward Hinds, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said the countywide public health agency learned over the weekend of the child care worker with active TB.

The person – Hinds declined to specify whether it was a man or woman – is now receiving medical treatment. Hinds also declined to identify where the person works, only saying that the center serves mostly preschoolers.

“We’re working with this organization,” he said. “They don’t want their identity getting into the media. We have an obligation to honor that.”

The health district is notifying parents whose children go to the day care center, he said. “If they’re not getting a letter from us, it’s not their child care center,” he said.

Testing of children has begun to see if they have been infected with the disease, he said. Because children under 5 years old can sometimes develop a serious illness relatively quickly from TB, antibiotics are being given to children even if their initial skin test is negative.

Follow-up testing is done three months later to check for more cases. “You can’t afford to wait three months to find out” if they have been infected with TB, Hinds said.

Last week, the health district announced that a student at Jackson High School near Mill Creek had an active case of TB and that testing was under way. On Tuesday, Hinds said the investigation has now been enlarged to include several groups the student was involved with.

Nearly 40 members of the health district staff are helping with the two cases, including initial skin tests and tracking down people who may have been exposed.

Despite the two confirmed cases of active TB, Hinds said he doesn’t think it signals a sudden increase in the disease in the county.

Sharon Salyer writes for The Herald in Everett.