Wellness

[terrier3]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

I was afraid she had gotten it from her mother, who is a drug addict and has been for years. But she it has been several months since they have seen each other.

This was just interesting to me- I asked dd how much the friend had to pay the people at the health dept., who give her the medicine- She said she is not having to pay them anything. I don't know if it is cause she doesn't have insurance yet- Hers will start Aug 1, or what, but I am very thankful.

TB is a public health concern...a communicable disease.

One person can infect a LOT of people. It has happened before with food workers or health care workers.

[happycat]

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

Latent TB is not uncommon in institutionalized populations, such as prisons or state hospitals where individuals live in a communal setting. Most providers working in these settings are required to have yearly PPD tests.

And prior to this job she recently got, she was working in an institution type place. She went from that job to this one. And had to have yearly TB tests, that always came back negative.
She didn't know if any of those people had TB. Would her supervisor not needed to have told her? My sister worked there as well, in a different location as a supervisor, and she told me she always told her workers when there was a health issue such as this. But, she said the other supervisors may not have.

So, if I am working for some company, and there is a TB patient there who I am taking care of, does my superior not have to tell me because of HIPPA or something? Thank you.

[RinaRina]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 namaste000 said:

Back in 1971 I moved from NY to NC and got job as a hs teacher. The medical form for employment included the TB test. It came back positive! This does NOT mean you had or have TB. The tubercullin germ, as many others, will stay in your body for your lifetime. If your immune system becomes weak, then those germs may become active.

At that time I was told more than half the people in NYC would test positive. I took pills for about a year and have not thought it about it since. Once you test positive, you don't run that test anymore - it will always be in your system so you will always test positive.

I don't understand this. Because my dads sister had TB and he always tests positive, but has never had to take any pills. He tests positive on the skin test at the health dept. They nurses told him it was from being exposed to his sister.

Once you've been exposed, you've been exposed. You will always test positive. It's just that simple.

[happycat]

On 7/20/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

I was afraid she had gotten it from her mother, who is a drug addict and has been for years. But she it has been several months since they have seen each other.

This was just interesting to me- I asked dd how much the friend had to pay the people at the health dept., who give her the medicine- She said she is not having to pay them anything. I don't know if it is cause she doesn't have insurance yet- Hers will start Aug 1, or what, but I am very thankful.

TB is a public health concern...a communicable disease.

One person can infect a LOT of people. It has happened before with food workers or health care workers.

I know, I was just surprised they weren't charging her.

[Colonel Meow]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

Latent TB is not uncommon in institutionalized populations, such as prisons or state hospitals where individuals live in a communal setting. Most providers working in these settings are required to have yearly PPD tests.

And prior to this job she recently got, she was working in an institution type place. She went from that job to this one. And had to have yearly TB tests, that always came back negative.
She didn't know if any of those people had TB. Would her supervisor not needed to have told her? My sister worked there as well, in a different location as a supervisor, and she told me she always told her workers when there was a health issue such as this. But, she said the other supervisors may not have.

So, if I am working for some company, and there is a TB patient there who I am taking care of, does my superior not have to tell me because of HIPPA or something? Thank you.

As a provider, I am always aware of which patients have TB, HIV, etc. A number of patients that I regularly see have latent TB, which is not communicable. Certain factors can cause active TB to develop, but this is few and far between. We don't treat the latent TB cases any differently than anyone else because it is not possible to contract active TB from someone with latent TB. Does that make sense to you? (lol)

[Kachina624]

On 7/20/2014 annabellethecat said:

Due to so many people coming into the country who haven't had shots or TB tests, it would be a good idea for elderly to get tested.

There are a lot of diseases that are showing up that we haven't seen in years. Just try googling some of them.

Everytime the US admits a large number of aliens from other countries, there is a rise in the TB rate. This happened with Vietnamese refugees and could possibly happen with all the people entering the country from Central America. I spent two weeks in a nursing home/rehab facility after a knee replacement and had to have a TB test to comply with state law.

I spent many years working in a public office. On a couple of occasions we were notified by the health department that our employees were possibly exposed to TB by a client. Everyone was offered free TB testing. Nobody ever tested positive.

[terrier3]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

I was afraid she had gotten it from her mother, who is a drug addict and has been for years. But she it has been several months since they have seen each other.

This was just interesting to me- I asked dd how much the friend had to pay the people at the health dept., who give her the medicine- She said she is not having to pay them anything. I don't know if it is cause she doesn't have insurance yet- Hers will start Aug 1, or what, but I am very thankful.

TB is a public health concern...a communicable disease.

One person can infect a LOT of people. It has happened before with food workers or health care workers.

I know, I was just surprised they weren't charging her.

That's why it is still around...people can't afford to see a doctor on a regular basis.

I am glad your community recognizes how important it is that she be treated.

[happycat]

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

Latent TB is not uncommon in institutionalized populations, such as prisons or state hospitals where individuals live in a communal setting. Most providers working in these settings are required to have yearly PPD tests.

And prior to this job she recently got, she was working in an institution type place. She went from that job to this one. And had to have yearly TB tests, that always came back negative.
She didn't know if any of those people had TB. Would her supervisor not needed to have told her? My sister worked there as well, in a different location as a supervisor, and she told me she always told her workers when there was a health issue such as this. But, she said the other supervisors may not have.

So, if I am working for some company, and there is a TB patient there who I am taking care of, does my superior not have to tell me because of HIPPA or something? Thank you.

As a provider, I am always aware of which patients have TB, HIV, etc. A number of patients that I regularly see have latent TB, which is not communicable. Certain factors can cause active TB to develop, but this is few and far between. We don't treat the latent TB cases any differently than anyone else because it is not possible to contract active TB from someone with latent TB. Does that make sense to you? (lol)

Yes, I understand that. My issue is she didn't get it from someone with latent TB. She has been exposed to it from someone with active TB, possibly at her old job. And that to me, could be a problem.

[Colonel Meow]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 Colonel Meow said:

Latent TB is not uncommon in institutionalized populations, such as prisons or state hospitals where individuals live in a communal setting. Most providers working in these settings are required to have yearly PPD tests.

And prior to this job she recently got, she was working in an institution type place. She went from that job to this one. And had to have yearly TB tests, that always came back negative.
She didn't know if any of those people had TB. Would her supervisor not needed to have told her? My sister worked there as well, in a different location as a supervisor, and she told me she always told her workers when there was a health issue such as this. But, she said the other supervisors may not have.

So, if I am working for some company, and there is a TB patient there who I am taking care of, does my superior not have to tell me because of HIPPA or something? Thank you.

As a provider, I am always aware of which patients have TB, HIV, etc. A number of patients that I regularly see have latent TB, which is not communicable. Certain factors can cause active TB to develop, but this is few and far between. We don't treat the latent TB cases any differently than anyone else because it is not possible to contract active TB from someone with latent TB. Does that make sense to you? (lol)

Yes, I understand that. My issue is she didn't get it from someone with latent TB. She has been exposed to it from someone with active TB, possibly at her old job. And that to me, could be a problem.

Of course, I can't speak for the protocol at your daughter's place of work - but at my hospital, any provider handling a patient with active TB would most certainly be made aware of it.

[happycat]

On 7/20/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

On 7/20/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

I was afraid she had gotten it from her mother, who is a drug addict and has been for years. But she it has been several months since they have seen each other.

This was just interesting to me- I asked dd how much the friend had to pay the people at the health dept., who give her the medicine- She said she is not having to pay them anything. I don't know if it is cause she doesn't have insurance yet- Hers will start Aug 1, or what, but I am very thankful.

TB is a public health concern...a communicable disease.

One person can infect a LOT of people. It has happened before with food workers or health care workers.

I know, I was just surprised they weren't charging her.

That's why it is still around...people can't afford to see a doctor on a regular basis.

I am glad your community recognizes how important it is that she be treated.

This community has been giving out free birth control for years,(not that it worked) so I would hope they would be taking care of her, now that I think about it.