Positive from TB skin test...

[Mayang M 0]

I find it hard to believe that the Dr. confirmed you were TB positive (whether active or inactive TB with just using the skin test and then placed you on meds, it is common knowledge that the skin test will show positive result for the vaccination you took as a child cause this to be. Did the Doctor take chest x-ray or give you the sputum test for confirmation. Yes, you can tell St. Lukes about the skin test and give them the medical findings if you want, they will not recognize the doctors findings nor the treament course even if you had completed it. They will issue you TB Skin test regardless of previous ones as it is required by the U.S Embassy, you may fail it, they will then do chest x-ray and the 3 day sputum test, if nothing shows then you have a 2 or 3 month wait to see if positive TB culture grows, if it does then you will have to undergo 6 month of medication to be given to you daily at St. Lukes which requires you moving to Manila during this time.

If you pass the sputum test at St Lukes this means you do not have active TB, if it is inactive TB they will still allow you to pass as you are not contagious, once stateside you may or may not be referred to the health unit for further testing and possibly be placed on meds for 6 months to insure that it not become active TB.

My wife had the same problem, failed the TB skin test, took chest x-ray showed small scarring, she then did the 3 day sputum test, 1st and 2nd day sputum sample was good, the 3rd day it was sent for culture. She called St. Lukes at the end of culture on date told to do so and was informed it was negative and to come back in 2 days for completion of shots and physical and then to U.S Embassy K1 Visa interview.

Hope this info helps

Sir,

So you mean if they find the person positive from the tuberculin test they will undergo x-ray and 3 day sputum test...and for the 3rd day sputum test result you will hve to wait for 2-3 months?did i get it right?

The reason im asking is, me and my son is waiting for our papers at NVC to be processed and completed and my husband is planning to hve it expedited due to medical reason...dilemma is my son had tb case when he was a yr old due to exposure and underwent 6 months treatment...i don't have the record of it now...would this post a problem?does this mean my son would undergo the 3 day sputum test and we have to wait for 2-3 months?

I would greatly appreciate your response.

thank you

[HELP me please 17]

This.

I'm always amazed of those who put getting to America over their safety, happiness, health, relationship, etc

People come first then the immigration process.

OP, please go back to your primary Physician, get tested and follow through. If not for yourself but for others around you. We'll all be guessing here on VJ, it's only a Doctor who can tell what your status is for sure.

Please, don't say anything unless you actually know what you're talking about. A positive skin test DOES NOT MEAN THAT PERSON HAS TB! Please do your research or talk to your doctor.

[HELP me please 17]

I agree with Bri and Mar. It seems like there are some people here who are feeding you wrong information but what Bri and Mar said is correct. A positive skin test does not necessarily mean you have TB as I have said previously. Since your x-ray came back clear then you should be ok. You can go back to your doctor and ask for another set of medication. However, St. Lukes will not be acknowledging any of your doctor's findings. They will only care about the x-ray test that they will perform on you. St. Lukes will not perform the skin test on you. Only minors will get the skin test from st. lukes. Since I assume that you are an adult then you will undergo an x-ray examination. SPUTUM TEST will be performed by ST.LUKES and this will only be done if your x-ray came back with something unusual. Since your x-ray came back clear, you should not have to go through that. All other advice given here regarding getting sputum test regardless of your clear x-ray is laughable. It would be a waste of time and money since there is no use for it and since St. Luke's will not even honor that sputum test. If I were you, I would wait to see what St. Luke's have to say.

Best of luck to you and I hope you get better information from people who actually know what theyre talking about.

P.S. All the information you need have already been said in this topic.

[HELP me please 17]

Sir,

So you mean if they find the person positive from the tuberculin test they will undergo x-ray and 3 day sputum test...and for the 3rd day sputum test result you will hve to wait for 2-3 months?did i get it right?

The reason im asking is, me and my son is waiting for our papers at NVC to be processed and completed and my husband is planning to hve it expedited due to medical reason...dilemma is my son had tb case when he was a yr old due to exposure and underwent 6 months treatment...i don't have the record of it now...would this post a problem?does this mean my son would undergo the 3 day sputum test and we have to wait for 2-3 months?

I would greatly appreciate your response.

thank you

First of all, how old is your son. If he is 18 yrs of age then he will not be needing the skin test. Just the xray. Once they see that the x-ray is clear, then there will be no need for the sputum test. They will only require the sputum test if they find anything unusual from your son's xray. It takes 2-3months for the sputum result. BTW, even if you have the medical record for that, st. lukes WILL NOT HONOR IT. They will only make a decision based on their findings.

Here is something useful for you.

Tuberculin Skin Test - Required for applicants 2-14 years of age

Chest X-ray (CXR) - Required for all adult applicants aged 15 and above, or children who had exposure to TB Cases or history of TB disease

http://www.slec.ph/us-visa-applicants.shtml#required-docs

Please refer to that website for more information. This goes to the OP as well.

Good luck to both of you.

Edited October 24, 2012 by AL & JM

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I wanted to link you a thread but I can't find it.

While others claim you don't necessarily have TB... I recall a thread where the OP's wife's 20 something year old brother had just died. He, like you, stopped taking medicine long ago. He later contracted TB that was drug resistant (from this prior "stopped taking" situation). You have done yourself, and all the healthy people around you, a serious disservice.

I hope this doesn't happen to you. But what you did was EXTREMELY foolish, not to mention selfish because you are not a doctor and you do not know what the final result of your actions will be.

See your doctor, TAKE your medication, and hope you'll be okay. DO NOT lie to immigration doctors.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

Please, don't say anything unless you actually know what you're talking about. A positive skin test DOES NOT MEAN THAT PERSON HAS TB! Please do your research or talk to your doctor.

You should take a bit of that same advice and I would also go further and suggest that you start practising comprehending English language as it's written.

I never once said OP has TB. I merely suggested that she go back to her primary Physician to discuss her condition since per OP, the prescribed medications for TB that was given were no longer being taken.

Only a selfish person would find anything wrong with someone seeking proper medical care.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

I wanted to link you a thread but I can't find it.

While others claim you don't necessarily have TB... I recall a thread where the OP's wife's 20 something year old brother had just died. He, like you, stopped taking medicine long ago. He later contracted TB that was drug resistant (from this prior "stopped taking" situation). You have done yourself, and all the healthy people around you, a serious disservice.

I hope this doesn't happen to you. But what you did was EXTREMELY foolish, not to mention selfish because you are not a doctor and you do not know what the final result of your actions will be.

See your doctor, TAKE your medication, and hope you'll be okay. DO NOT lie to immigration doctors.

Hence why I always tell peopel to take care of themselves first and foremost and forget about immigration for a minute.

And I also believe that it's a crime in parts of the US to intentionally stop taking prescribed medication for extreme contagious diseases. It at least has civil litigation written all over it.

man-arrested-for-not-taking-tb-medicine/

woman-arrested-after-stopping-tb-treatment

Completing treatment is essential

After a few weeks, you won't be contagious and you may start to feel better. It might be tempting to stop taking your TB drugs. But it is crucial that you finish the full course of therapy and take the medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Stopping treatment too soon or skipping doses can allow the bacteria that are still alive to become resistant to those drugs, leading to TB that is much more dangerous and difficult to treat.

To help people stick with their treatment, a program called directly observed therapy (DOT) is sometimes recommended. In this approach, a health care worker administers your medication so that you don't have to remember to take it on your own.

My source

I don't really care if people jump the immigration line, I don't care if people come in on a tourist visa and adjust. Gowon cares about people not being contagious intentionally.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Gowon

[Boiler 45,767]

I would get a positive from the skin test. Anybody from the UK would.

[Mayang M 0]

First of all, how old is your son. If he is 18 yrs of age then he will not be needing the skin test. Just the xray. Once they see that the x-ray is clear, then there will be no need for the sputum test. They will only require the sputum test if they find anything unusual from your son's xray. It takes 2-3months for the sputum result. BTW, even if you have the medical record for that, st. lukes WILL NOT HONOR IT. They will only make a decision based on their findings.

Here is something useful for you.

Tuberculin Skin Test - Required for applicants 2-14 years of age

Chest X-ray (CXR) - Required for all adult applicants aged 15 and above, or children who had exposure to TB Cases or history of TB disease

http://www.slec.ph/us-visa-applicants.shtml#required-docs

Please refer to that website for more information. This goes to the OP as well.

Good luck to both of you.

thank you for the quick response....my son is just 12yrs old...but he has tb when he was a yr old....do you think this will delay everything?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I would get a positive from the skin test. Anybody from the UK would.

A lot of people would. But if given medication to stop it "possibly" turning to active TB wouldn't you take it?

It would be like women not getting "pre cancer" cells removed after an off pap smear result. It doesn't mean they HAVE cancer but they're treating it "just in case". The OP had a positive skin test, was given medication. They should have continued the regime. They didn't. No-one knows what will happen for sure. We can guess all we like. It could be nothing, it could be something. Their chances of "something bad" would have been less having taken the entire course, that's the only thing we know for sure.

[Boiler 45,767]

A few years ago I did have a positive from a US test. Momentary panic before both the Doctor and myself realised it meant nothing.

So no if it happened again I would not take medication.

[HELP me please 17]

Hence why I always tell peopel to take care of themselves first and foremost and forget about immigration for a minute.

And I also believe that it's a crime in parts of the US to intentionally stop taking prescribed medication for extreme contagious diseases. It at least has civil litigation written all over it.

man-arrested-for-not-taking-tb-medicine/

woman-arrested-after-stopping-tb-treatment

Completing treatment is essential

After a few weeks, you won't be contagious and you may start to feel better. It might be tempting to stop taking your TB drugs. But it is crucial that you finish the full course of therapy and take the medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Stopping treatment too soon or skipping doses can allow the bacteria that are still alive to become resistant to those drugs, leading to TB that is much more dangerous and difficult to treat.

To help people stick with their treatment, a program called directly observed therapy (DOT) is sometimes recommended. In this approach, a health care worker administers your medication so that you don't have to remember to take it on your own.

My source

I don't really care if people jump the immigration line, I don't care if people come in on a tourist visa and adjust. Gowon cares about people not being contagious intentionally.

What you both do not understand is NO ONE in the philippines can get a visa without passing a medical exam. The OP will HAVE to pass the x-ray exam from the embassy's choice of hospital, which is ST. Luke's. Regardless of whether or not the OP resumes medication, if the OP is not in the clear healthwise, the OP will not receive a visa. St. Luke's will examine the OP and if the OP's xray test is positive, the OP will have to undergo a sputum test. The OP will also be given medication. The OP cannot receive a visa at any point without passing an extensive medical examination. Idk what you do in your country but since I have gone through the same process in the same country, I can attest to this.

And as to your previous statement, one can read between the lines. You said "OP, please go back to your primary Physician, get tested and follow through. If not for yourself but for others around you. We'll all be guessing here on VJ, it's only a Doctor who can tell what your status is for sure." You were assuming that the OP has already contracted the disease. The OP has also specified in the previous posts that the xrays were clear. Hence, the OP has been tested and was proven to be clear of TB. It has also been advised that the OP should go back to take a new set of medication. However, it is still a fact that a positive ppd skin test doesn't mean that a person has contracted TB and should not be treated or seen as such. You can argue that however much you want but the way you have spoken about it already demonstrates that you believe that the OP may be diseased. And please, just because I came from the Philippines does not mean that I cannot "comprehend English language as it's written". Perhaps, you should take that advice, as you do not write very well. =)

I wanted to link you a thread but I can't find it.

While others claim you don't necessarily have TB... I recall a thread where the OP's wife's 20 something year old brother had just died. He, like you, stopped taking medicine long ago. He later contracted TB that was drug resistant (from this prior "stopped taking" situation). You have done yourself, and all the healthy people around you, a serious disservice.

I hope this doesn't happen to you. But what you did was EXTREMELY foolish, not to mention selfish because you are not a doctor and you do not know what the final result of your actions will be.

See your doctor, TAKE your medication, and hope you'll be okay. DO NOT lie to immigration doctors.

I would like to say that it is not a claim that we just made up ourselves. I have encountered this scenario many times already (annual medical check up, school admission medical check up, immigration medical check up etc etc) and have been told by competent medical professionals (doctors, nurses etc) the same thing. But we are by no means telling the OP to not take the medication. It has been suggested many times in fact. We say it so as not to cause unnecessary panic and because it is true. The x-ray test must still be performed as it usually is after a positive ppd skin test. X-ray test should also be performed every year. BTW, it doesn't matter if the OP lies. In the Philippines, an x-ray test is a requirement. AND NO ONE gets a visa without passing a rather extensive medical examination.

Edited October 24, 2012 by AL & JM

[Boiler 45,767]

X ray is the determining method in the UK. And is how they do it at the medical.

[HELP me please 17]

thank you for the quick response....my son is just 12yrs old...but he has tb when he was a yr old....do you think this will delay everything?

Well, St. Lukes will take xrays. If they find anything, which they will since he had TB apparently, your son will be subject to a sputum test. You will have to wait at least 2 months for the results to come in. I hope that everything works out. Are you sure he did contract TB? or was it just a positive skin test? Please explain the situation a little bit further.

[HELP me please 17]

X ray is the determining method in the UK. And is how they do it at the medical.

It is the same in the US and Philippines.