Positive TB skin test
 

Just an FYI..my 11 year old grandaughter who has traveled to more places in Europe, Asia, Africa, SA than many adults (30+ countries) just tested positive on the TB skin test. She does not have TB, is not contageous, but will need to take antibiotics for 9-12 months. Good idea to take the TB skin test for those of us to do a lot of travel especially to "Third World" countries.

Elainee,

I'm just curious why your granddaughter need to take antibiotics, obviously from the positive result of the TB skin test, for 9 - 12 months(typical treatment period for TB) if she does not have TB?

This happened to one of my students - you can test positive if you have what they refer to (here at least) as an inactive TB infection. In such a case, the person is not contagious and does not have an active TB infection but the bacteria is present (hence positive test). Because an inactive infection can later become active, both active and inactive infections are treated.

Getting a TB test (Mantoux) for travelers is a very good idea.

Check with your physician for recommendations, but once a year is typical if you think your travels put you at risk.

Best wishes to your grand-daughter.

Our doctor in Shanghai said DD would test positive to TB skin test if we vaccinated her against TB. Then whenever she started school in the US she'd require a chest xray to prove she didn't have TB before school would allow her to attend. He said he's heard of parents who've forgotten they vaccinated their infants against it then freaked when their child tested positive. Not saying this happened to OP but I found it interesting.

Doc said that TB is still in China and fairly recently most (all?) Chinese children are now vaccinated in an effort to erradicate it. The older generation wasn't vaccinated.

TB is not confined to the "Third World" There are cases in NYC where I live. There is a new resistant strain which needs careful treatment. People who work in the health and education fiels are often required to test every two years in order to maintain their licenses.

Thanks for the info Bella, it make sense now.

When I was younger, everyone was vaccinated in the UK at 12/13 - the TB skin tests and subsequent vaccinations were done in school. Now, they are offering TB vaccinations to newborns as there have been an increase in cases of TB here.

Hello all, just a side note, there is latent (non active) and active TB, a positive skin test just means the person has been either vaccinated or exposed to TB,taking the anitbiotics helps prevent it from becoming active. Active TB has all the night sweats etc....and x+ray is the only way to tell for sure what is going on.

Grandaughter did not have TB vaccination. Did have chest x-ray after test results. X-ray just fine. Bella gave good explanation of reason for treatment. I plan to have skin test this week. Better safe than sorry.

I am a pediatrician who works in the US among refugees and also has worked 3 years in South Africa.

For everyone's education: BCG, the so called TB vaccination, does not cause a positive TB test after a few years. This is a big problem with people who don't realize this and have been told wrong information. To be positive, you need 5-10 mm (depending on age and immune status) of firmness to the skin. BCG will give less than 5 mm. Anyone who has been given BCG and who has a positive skin test by these criteria need 9 months of INH and a chest XRay regardless if whether they have been given BCG.

In fact this is now called latent TB and does constitute infection.

And BCG is a lousy vaccination. In fact it only prevents TB meningitis in newborns and was in fact developed for that. It has never prevented active TB in adults. Millions of South Africans who now have TB and have gotten BCG on a regular basis proves that.

I will be glad to answer any questions or disagreements from the board. By the way, anytime I post someone seems to find my posts inappropriate for some reason and deletes them. Who is doing that???

Docklang

<Who is doing that???>

You might email Katie at [email protected] ((*))

Kimwhits- You have quite a few posts...are you just not finding them, or were there more that were deleted?

I have always been a big proponent of having a TB test upon return home from SEA, and always found it odd that the travel clinic didn't recommend it.

Finally a few months ago, bingo, positive test. No big deal. Latent TB, take the drugs, get over it (I hope!) but was grateful to have had the foresight to get the test. If I didn't know I had it and it became active, that would be a big drag.

Everyone should add this to their list of things to do if they travel widely. Or for that matter, even if they don't. There is a resurgence of TB in the US as Tweety mentioned.

Yes, some others were deleted. And they weren't even particularly inflammatory, just opinions!

kim - Can you remember one or two posts that you say were deleted? Maybe we can find them. ((*))

Hi Kimwhits, after reading your post I wanted to add my 2 cents too about measuring the "induration" (the raised area around the Mantoux injection).

Too many people think it's the red area alone that constitutes a postitive reaction, but it's the RAISED area (which may or may not be red) that needs to be measured for size and it takes an experienced nurse or doctor who knows this to differentiate red and flat from red and/or slightly raised.

A large red, flat area is NOT a positive reaction even though it can be quite large and dramatic in appearance.

Point I'm making is you want to make sure the person reading a potentially postive reaction knows their TB skin reading stuff.

(where I live, it is 10mm or greater of induration for a positive).