TB Tests

[steveandrong]

Rong and her two children have just had their TB skin tests done, and as I had suspected it would, they turned out positive. We then went and had the chest x-rays done which showed no activity. I talked with the nurse at the local county health clinic about this and was told the doctor will probably want to prescribe the nine month medication to kill the germ. I was told this is not mandatory and they (Rong and children) may choose not to go through this course of medication. What I would like to know is how others have dealt with this situation.

[chilton747]

TB is serious stuff! The medication treatment is not mandatory? I am confused.

[steveandrong]

TB is serious stuff! The medication treatment is not mandatory? I am confused.

I was told at the clinic that china ranks #2, right behind india in tb cases and is very common to be exposed to it and carry the disease in a dormant state. This can stay in a dormant state indefinately and while in the dormant state, it poses no threat to anyone else. I was just was wondering what others that have had positive tests have done.

[Guest jin979]

did xray show any disease(active or scares in lungs) or is skin test false positive from them getting vaccination in the past, BCG ? what did civil surgeon say about xray,they need to confirm skin test with xray ?

 

PPD skin test done here is very unreliable for anyone coming from countrty that does vaccines, china does.Xray is most reliable test but Rob says many civils dont have skill to look at it, so got change to skin test.

 

take xray to pulmonoligist or radiloligist for proper look.

Edited June 20, 2009 by jin979 (see edit history)

[Tom and Ling]

did xray show any disease(active or scares in lungs) or is skin test false positive from them getting vaccination in the past, BCG ? what did civil surgeon say about xray,they need to confirm skin test with xray ?

 

PPD skin test done here is very unreliable for anyone coming from countrty that does vaccines, china does.Xray is most reliable test but Rob says many civils dont have skill to look at it, so got change to skin test.

 

take xray to pulmonoligist or radiloligist for proper look.

 

Hi steveandrong,

 

Jin is right.....Take Xray to radiologist.

Because China gives the BCG vaccination the TB skin test will usually come out positive.

The Chest Xray is the most reliable...If chest Xray is Clear than I would not take the treatments .

I have hear the treatments are harsh.

If you have any concerns about,, a positive TB skin test and a clear chest Xray...than consult your regular family doctor or the health department in your area.

My second wife was from Kazakhstan and her daughter had a positive skin test and a clear chest Xray and she opted to not have the treatments because of the known harshness.

One of the other points is sometimes the skin tests are not given the correct way and can come out positive, and also how the skin test is read.

So the chest Xray is the most reliable.

I (personally) would consult my family doctor.

Hope this helps.

 

Tom and Ling

[steveandrong]

Thanks everyone for your input....was what i was looking for...talked with rong about the immunizations for this and she said yes, they had all been immunized for this in a series of three or so spaced innoculations...was just they did not bring the yellow booklets of previous immunizations to prove history of such...and yes, have heard that the course of medication for this can be rough, so i did not want to put them through anything that is unnecesary....now i know how to approach this when talking with the nurse and doctor about this.....thanks again!