Friday, April 20, 2001
Teachers at a Park Slope, Brooklyn, middle school learned yesterday that a colleague who had been out of school for over two weeks was hospitalized with tuberculosis.
Health Department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin confirmed that a member of the staff at Middle School 88 has active tuberculosis but said the risk to anyone else at the school is very low.
Mullin said students will be sent home today with a letter to their parents explaining the situation. People at the school who had contact with the staff will undergo TB screening.
TB infects about 8 million people a year worldwide, and kills 2 million a year.
Health Department officials say New York City’s infection rate of the disease has declined drastically in the past eight years.
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