Testest positive on Tuberculosis, X-ray needed

[onofre 1]

Here's my situation. We left to Mexico on August 10th. On the 11h, I get a call from my sister that a letter from immigration came and that we have an interview on 8/19. So we got back from Mexico on the Sunday the 9th. So I was looking for an office that handles immigration health checks. I called Tuesday, they said no doctor on Wed, but on Thursday yes. So we go on Thursday, my wife got her shots, and said to come back on Saturday (today) to see if her arm had any reaction or rash. They told her not to touch it nor scratch it. I guess my wife scratch it during her sleep unconsciously.

So they saw a small little bump on her arm, for the nurses it tested positive for tuberculosis. So my wife is crying, and they send us to a hop ital for an chest x-ray. She has no coughing, no chest pain, etc. So now they said that they will review the results by Monday or Tuesday.

So what happens next??? It's a race against time and the interview is on Wed, the 19th at 10am. I'm going to try to call and have the doctors from the office and the hospital to communicate fast to have our results quick. Nurses said that its only because she scratch herself but they have to do all testing to cover themselves, to be safe than sorry.

Any of you had a similar positive test that resulted OK when the X-rays came in? Any suggestions?

[Dakine 26]

LOTS of peeps show positive skin test and don't have TB.

Hopefully they won't require a 8 week sputum test. If so things will be put on hold.

If she does have active TB she'll have to take the treatment which takes about 6 months.

No matter what things will work out for the better.

[HannahP 119]

False positives are very common. Once she gets the x-ray, they'll be able to determine whether it's active or not (or if she even has it!) & will proceed from there. It's not the end of the world! Promise.

(And for what it's worth, I've worked in the medical field and a lot of nurses and doctors get positive results with perfectly normal xrays.)

[display name 0]

YES it is, right its happen alots of people from overseas got positive too, dont worry thats not gonna killed her unless if really something happen when she took the xtray. friend has she's doesnt care.

[What Happened? 4]

Positive TB tine does not always mean the person has an active case of TB. It's not really a "false positive" if there is a bump from the Tine and a negative xray. It means that at some point in life the person had been exposed to TB. If a person has been exposed to TB they will have a positive TB tine every time they test....always. That is why many healthcare workers test positive for TB and have negative xrays.

If nothing shows on the Xray she is good to go.....don't worry.

Edited August 15, 2009 by cornbread

[furiousng 2]

Relax. Best case scenario, her xray comes negative and its all good. Worst case scenario, she takes the six month treatment course. Positive reactions to TST can occur due to a number of reasons. Example if you were given the BCG vaccine as a kid, it can cause a positive skin reaction. All the best as you go for your xray and good luck the rest of the way!!!

Edited August 15, 2009 by furiousng

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

Maybe your wife had the TB vaccine (called BCG) in the past? Most Europeans get that and it leads to positive skin tests, so they don't even bother with the skin test with us and go straight to x=ray.

[nowhereman 1]

It's not really a "false positive". There is TB infection & TB disease (both show up on the skin test). Here's an article that explains the difference:

TB Infection and Disease

[bonjur_mimi 0]

Here's my situation. We left to Mexico on August 10th. On the 11h, I get a call from my sister that a letter from immigration came and that we have an interview on 8/19. So we got back from Mexico on the Sunday the 9th. So I was looking for an office that handles immigration health checks. I called Tuesday, they said no doctor on Wed, but on Thursday yes. So we go on TProxy-Connection: keep-alive

Cache-Control: max-age=0

rsday, my wife got her shots, and said to come back on Saturday (today) to see if her arm had any reaction or rash. They told her not to touch it nor scratch it. I guess my wife scratch it during her sleep unconsciously.

So they saw a small little bump on her arm, for the nurses it tested positive for tuberculosis. So my wife is crying, and they send us to a hop ital for an chest x-ray. She has no coughing, no chest pain, etc. So now they said that they will review the results by Monday or Tuesday.

So what happens next??? It's a race against time and the interview is on Wed, the 19th at 10am. I'm going to try to call and have the doctors from the office and the hospital to communicate fast to have our results quick. Nurses said that its only because she scratch herself but they have to do all testing to cover themselves, to be safe than sorry.

Any of you had a similar positive test that resulted OK when the X-rays came in? Any suggestions?

Test on the arm can change from not scratching probably she washed it because it's very sensitive to the water and if you wash it or contact with water it can give you reactions. Most of people can have the reaction on the arm test. because in every person there's a few amounts of coccs that cause tuberculosis and it gets worse with changing the lifestyles or with weak immune system.

they probably ask for chest X-ray.

good luck

[bonjur_mimi 0]

It's not really a "false positive". There is TB infection & TB disease (both show up on the skin test). Here's an article that explains the difference:

TB Infection and Disease

reaction to the Mantoux tuberculin skin test is classified as positive depends on the size of the indurProxy-Connection: keep-alive

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ion, the person's risk factors for TB, and for people who may be exposed to TB

[jmari 0]

Here's my situation. We left to Mexico on August 10th. On the 11h, I get a call from my sister that a letter from immigration came and that we have an interview on 8/19. So we got back from Mexico on the Sunday the 9th. So I was looking for an office that handles immigration health checks. I called Tuesday, they said no doctor on Wed, but on Thursday yes. So we go on Thursday, my wife got her shots, and said to come back on Saturday (today) to see if her arm had any reaction or rash. They told her not to touch it nor scratch it. I guess my wife scratch it during her sleep unconsciously.

So they saw a small little bump on her arm, for the nurses it tested positive for tuberculosis. So my wife is crying, and they send us to a hop ital for an chest x-ray. She has no coughing, no chest pain, etc. So now they said that they will review the results by Monday or Tuesday.

So what happens next??? It's a race against time and the interview is on Wed, the 19th at 10am. I'm going to try to call and have the doctors from the office and the hospital to communicate fast to have our results quick. Nurses said that its only because she scratch herself but they have to do all testing to cover themselves, to be safe than sorry.

Any of you had a similar positive test that resulted OK when the X-rays came in? Any suggestions?

hi! the same situationed here 5 years ago. My medical exam turned really bad that both of us we're worried. My x-ray showed infection so I had to have a sputum test and we're just lucky because it's negative and it's not contagious and I didn't have a skin test because it will always shows positive since the Nurse said I had a TB vaccine when I was a kid.. But then I took a medicines for about 9 months. I took a medicines for almost two months in the Philippines and continue here in the USA until my x-ray shows cleared. Although I had a problem about my medical exam my interview date still continue. I just had to continue taking the medicines. So Don't worry, even it's positive they'll take care of that and they'll make sure you're cure. So now, I am cured and healthy,thank God!. I've been here for almost 5 years and I am a proud US Citizen! I hope this will help.

[onofre 1]

Just to update, We just got back from the Clinic and the xray results came out negative for TB. We had a small scare but we knew that it was going to be OK. The only thing that worried me was the time to have the results in and they were talking about tuesday or wednesday, which was impossible because our interview is on wednesday the 19th! So we couldnt wait lilke they said it would take.

Thanks for the support