My Filipina Fiancee might have TB

[sjr09 155]

I had a positive TB test when I went for my physical for I-485. I was on H1B at the time.

I had had the BGC vaccine when I was at high school in the UK. They considered that the BCG could cause a false positive but my chest X-ray confirmed that I had a latent infection. Also the skin test only supposedly reacts mildly to the vaccine. My reaction was not mild!

The county health dept gave me isonaizid (my spelling may be off here) for 6 months and then a letter saying that I'd completed the course. This did not affect my ability to adjust status and the health dept said that they were more concerned that the latent infection could become active when I was in old age, at which time it would be much more difficult to treat. I don't know what affect this will have on an immigrant visa.

What would be the effect if you were to start treatment now and produce a letter at your interview stating as such?

Alex.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/298184-my-filipina-fiancee-might-have-tb/page__view__findpost__p__4514207

[TeddyHoney 42]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis. X-RAY will not show LTBI LATENT TB

There are ways to test people whom had BCG Vaccinations.Since the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold test does not cross-react with BCG, this test will be

particularly useful for testing individuals with history of BCG vaccination. Blood-based testing has become available as an alternative to the TB skin test since 2001. Another blood-based test, the Elispot® is approved for clinical use in Europe and is

undergoing testing in the United States. Testing programs using the QuantiFERON® tests

(or other blood based tests such as the Elispot® that are under evaluation) should only be

implemented if quality laboratory services are ensured and if plans are in place for followup

medical evaluation and treatment of persons who are diagnosed with LTBI.

Not all "Asians" have had BCG vaccinations. The tuberculin skin test performed by the Mantoux method is the most commonly used method for identifying TB infection.

Test all people who are high risk, regardless of BCG history.

Tests for TB infection are not contraindicated for persons who have been vaccinated with

BCG. A history of BCG vaccination should not be considered when deciding whether to

test and determining whether the test result is positive in high-risk individuals

Although BCG vaccination can cause a false positive cross-reaction to the TST (especially

within the first 12 months after vaccination), sensitivity to tuberculin is highly variable

and tends to decrease over time. (Wear off) There is no way to distinguish between a positive

reaction due to BCG-induced sensitivity and a positive reaction due to true LTBI.

Therefore, a positive reaction to the TST in BCG-vaccinated persons should be interpreted as indicating infection with M. tuberculosis when the person tested is at increased risk of

recent infection or has a medical condition that increases the risk of progression to activeTB disease.

Ten Points for Testing and Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection

1. Target all tuberculin skin testing to persons at high risk for TB

2. Test all people who are at high risk, regardless of BCG history

　

3. Decide which test to use for diagnosing latent TB infection

4. Determine if the test for TB infection is positive

5. Rule out active TB disease in persons with positive skin tests

6. Provide treatment for high-risk individuals diagnosed with latent TB infection,

regardless of age.

7. Take special care when testing and treating HIV-positive individuals

8. Carefully consider treatment for pregnant women, children, contacts of persons

with multidrug-resistant TB, and individuals with evidence of old, healed TB

9. Monitor all patients carefully during the treatment of LTBI

10. Ensure adherence during LTBI treatment

TST results should always be recorded as millimeters (mm) of induration; if there is no

induration, the result should be recorded as "0 mm". Based on the size of the induration,

there are three cutoff points for defining a positive TST result: =5, =10, and =15 mm of

induration . For individuals who are at highest risk of developing TB disease

if infected with M. tuberculosis, a =5 mm induration is considered positive. An induration

of =10 mm should be considered positive for groups with an increased probability of

developing TB disease. Routine tuberculin testing is not recommended for populations at

low risk of LTBI; however, if these persons are tested, a cutoff of =15 mm is considered positive

Recent immigrants (those who have been in the United States <5 years) from

countries with high rates of TB should receive a test for TB infection the first time

they enter the medical care system in the U.S.

Rule out active TB disease in persons with positive test for TB infection.

Any individual with a newly identified positive test for TB infection should be evaluated

for TB disease with a medical examination and a chest x-ray. If the initial chest x-ray is

negative for active TB disease and the person has no symptoms consistent with active TB,

the individual should be evaluated for treatment of LTBI (see Point 6). If a CXR was

done within 3 months of start of LTBI treatment and was normal, a repeat CXR may not be necessary. If a decision is made to not treat the individual, further follow-up with

periodic chest x-rays is generally not indicated.

An individual with TB symptoms or an abnormal chest x-ray should be propriately

evaluated with sputa and other tests as indicated. Active TB (pulmonary or extrapulmonary) should be ruled out before treatment for LTBI

This was helpful, Thanks!

TeddyHoney and SqueezyBear

(Derrick and Ritchie)

[ThomKimQC 14]

Sorry to hear about your fiancee Derrick, we'll pray for her speedy recovery.

[TeddyHoney 42]

Sorry to hear about your fiancee Derrick, we'll pray for her speedy recovery.

Salamat!

[wizardfitz 13]

first of all, its more than likely her skin test will be positive since Philippines is endemic for tb. I had history of treated tb when I had my medical I knew going in that the chance of being delayed is a given since St Luke's will not accept ANY documentation for treatment without going through their sputum test. Long story short, if your fiancee has tb, they will treat her which means she has to go to St Luke's everyday except weekends just to have them watch her take the tb meds. this is a 6 month treatment, after that they will make her go through the sputum test which takes another 2 months so you are looking at a delay of 8 months worse case.

[marlyn24 2]

TB is easy to heal now..my father had that we go to private clinic in just 1 week its already heal the TB. mostly its normal here to have that because of the climate and pollution.. tell to your gf find a good hospital or clinic and take a good medicine not a generic one..

[Neonred 3,564]

Why is TB so rampant there? Because some people think they can be cured with one week of treatment. That is just not the case.

[sjr09 155]

Why is TB so rampant there? Because some people think they can be cured with one week of treatment. That is just not the case.

It is rampant in the PI like most underdeveloped counters with out proper control and education,

Edited March 3, 2011 by sjr09

[sjr09 155]

TB is easy to heal now..my father had that we go to private clinic in just 1 week its already heal the TB. mostly its normal here to have that because of the climate and pollution.. tell to your gf find a good hospital or clinic and take a good medicine not a generic one..

NOT!

[Jubi & Tony 3]

Well Look at the bright side. If you catch it now you still have about two months before you clear the service center and by the time it clears NVC is another few weeks and by the time they schedule her (usually 60 days out) for her VISA interview you will be just about done with the 6 Month treatment. The way I see it is it may only hold you up 2 months if you start treatment now. Please be religious on the treatment. From what I've read on TB is if you start treatment and don't follow it religiously, you could create a situation to where the TB becomes resistant to the treatment and then may be way more difficult to treat afterwards once it becomes resistant to the drugs. God Bless

[Haarp425 26]

My Filipina Fiancee has had bad cough and cold since weekend of Feb 19th. This past weekend it seemed much better but Tuesday she had fever and cough was worse and kept her up all Monday night so she went to the clinic Tuesday morning and they gave her a chest x-ray. Today she got the results of the x-ray and she told me they said they cannot determine if she has pneumonia or TB. So they they gave her the shot under the skin to verify if she has TB or not.

More than likely she has pneumonia.

However, TB skin test results is after 48 hours. She must not scratch the shot area.

If the skin does not react where they injected the shot, it is a sign of negative result.

[TeddyHoney 42]

More than likely she has pneumonia.

However, TB skin test results is after 48 hours. She must not scratch the shot area.

If the skin does not react where they injected the shot, it is a sign of negative result.

Thanks a lot. Talked to her today and Friday morning her time will be 48 hours. She's been taking anti-biotics for the pneumonia and feels a lot better just a infrequent almost dry cough. I should mention also that they don;t think she has active Tuberculosis, but what she is describing what they are trying to rule out is PTB. I guess there's a difference. I'm leaving a week from today to visit her.

Thanks for your informationtion. God Bless!

TeddyHoney and SqueezyBear

(Derrick and Ritchie)

[TeddyHoney 42]

Well Look at the bright side. If you catch it now you still have about two months before you clear the service center and by the time it clears NVC is another few weeks and by the time they schedule her (usually 60 days out) for her VISA interview you will be just about done with the 6 Month treatment. The way I see it is it may only hold you up 2 months if you start treatment now. Please be religious on the treatment. From what I've read on TB is if you start treatment and don't follow it religiously, you could create a situation to where the TB becomes resistant to the treatment and then may be way more difficult to treat afterwards once it becomes resistant to the drugs. God Bless

Well since we filed in October 2010 I'm hoping things move at least a little faster then that. Six months from today is September. I'm hoping more for her skin test to be negative, or if positive another chest x-ray after she is free of pneumonia, or worst case if something shows in the x-ray then negative sputum test. That's what I'm hoping/prayingf for in that order. Maybe 2 months delay and maybe she's here by Septemeber including 2 months delay for negative sputum.

Thanks!

TeddyHoney and SqueezyBear

(Derrick and Ritchie)

[karlosb10 0]

Mr. TeddyHoney,

I don't know if you are still on VJ or not but I would like to ask you how things worked out. My wife is also from the Philippines and has just tested positive for the skin TB test and they found abnormalities in her chest xray. She does not have any symptoms so we still don't know if it is a false positive or Latent TB. Either way, we just had our Green card interview with the USCIS and have 76 days left to provide all the paperwork for her Green card. She is here on a K1 Visa. I'm just wondering what happened in your case. Do you know that if my wife has Latent TB if they will let here stay here while she undergoes treatment or will she have to leave and come back after she has completed the treatment?

Thank you

[TBoneTX 45,298]

The OP hasn't logged on to VJ in over 3 years.

Click on his timeline to infer updates.

Post your question in a fresh thread in the Philippines regional forum.

Thread from 2011 is now closed to further comment.

Edited May 3, 2016 by TBoneTX