Wellness

[LTT1]

happycat... I would be nervous if my daughter's roommate had gotten a positive test/positive lung x-ray. This means that she went from negative to positive and so has been exposed recently. If I were this mom, I'd be asking lots of medical questions -- although no symptoms, I would still need reassurance... that would be me.

[Disneylandfan]

As a teacher in my district we are tested every 2 years. I've had a student that had had TB and was finishing his medication when he entered my class. I think he had to have chest Xrays at intervals throughout the year.

It made me a bit nervous since I was pregnant at the time he joined my class.

[happycat]

On 7/21/2014 Disneylandfan said:

As a teacher in my district we are tested every 2 years. I've had a student that had had TB and was finishing his medication when he entered my class. I think he had to have chest Xrays at intervals throughout the year.

It made me a bit nervous since I was pregnant at the time he joined my class.

I don't know about teachers, but health care workers in Arkansas have to have the skin test every year. Since this seems to be on the rise, I think we should ALL consider having it done yearly. Right now, I am not working, so I wouldn't be having the test. DH and son have industrial type jobs, they get physicals, but there is no TB test involved. By the time we were showing symptoms, we could be contagious.

[Clover29]

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

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.

Yes, you are right about that. There are lots of folks coming into this country, and who knows what they might be bringing with them.

All immigrants are screened - certainly for TB - upon arrival, before they can get their papers. No doubt some slip through the cracks, but there is a system in place to catch most of them. I know because I came here from another country and I had to have a chest x-ray before I could get a work visa. I was also given vaccinations, whether they were already up to date or not: it was not negotiable.

TB is a problem in poor countries, and dirt-poor people are less likely to immigrate. The prevalence in the US is mainly among those who have weaker immune systems: the very young, the elderly, those who are otherwise immuno-compromised (eg transplant recipients). And the homeless. Blaming immigrants is unfair.

[happycat]

On 7/21/2014 lovestoteach said:

happycat... I would be nervous if my daughter's roommate had gotten a positive test/positive lung x-ray. This means that she went from negative to positive and so has been exposed recently. If I were this mom, I'd be asking lots of medical questions -- although no symptoms, I would still need reassurance... that would be me.

It is me too, and that is why I called the Health Dept today. The nurse said that the roommate could have had this latent for years and it just not showed up when she was ran down. My dd saw her friend's paperwork from the Health Dept., and it stated that she was not contagious. I am kind of confused though, because within the last year she had the tb skin test and it was negative. In November she had a chest X ray at the hospital in it was clear. It looks like if she was a carrier of it, it would have at least shown up one the skin test. So I am thinking it was a recent exposure, although nurse said could be otherwise.

[Big Sister]

I also tested positive about 30 years ago and the germ lies dormant. Many people have this.

I was prescribed the medicines, but unfortunately had to stop them because they were affecting my liver, and the dr. took me off of them soon after I started them.

End of story, at least for now.

Try to remind the young lady to follow-up with blood tests after she begins the meds.

[pitdakota]

On 7/21/2014 Roni said:

TB and many other things are returning...why?? our borders are totally open add to that the fact that many parents now don't want to vaccinate their children... so --TB, Whooping Cough, etc are showing up again. Healthcare workers are routinely required to get a TB test every two years at a minimum - at least here in SE FL....

TB never went anywhere in this country in order to return. It has always been here, period. Furthermore, there is no vaccination given for TB in this country. So while children not being vaccinated for childhood diseases does account for a resurgence in some areas of pertussis, etc., it has absolutely nothing to do with the number of TB cases in the United States.

And other posters have very clearly discussed and identified, the blame for the number of annual cases here in the US cannot be just blamed on immigrants. Certainly there are cases in which immigrants have contributed to the rates of TB, but there are other multiple causative factors that substantially contribute to the incidence of TB in this country. HIV infection is one of those causative factors. Homeless populations are also another causative factor here in the US. And sadly, even when a homeless individual is diagnosed there are major challenges in having that individual report to take their medication. So one homeless individual can potentially expose a significant number of individuals over time. To simply try to lay the blame on immigrants for the number of TB cases is this country is very short sighted and exhibits a total lack of comprehension of the public health factors that account for the incidence of TB in the US.

The following information is from the CDC:

2000 16,309 cases Rate= 5.8 per 100,000

2006 13,727 cases Rate =4.6 per 100,000

2010 11,163 cases Rate= 3.6 per 100,000

2012 9,545 cases Rate= 3.2 per 100,000

HERE IS the table of data for anyone interested.

There has also been a serious national shortage of serum used for PPDskin testing in this country which has resulted in many areas having to either delay testing or revise policies for screening procedures. Some public health experts have theorized that this has directly contributed to the number of reported cases that occurred in 2013 and numbers of cases we are seeing for this year as well. Homeless shelters, some adult day centers, etc. have had to delay screening because the PPD serum was not available.

[foundinlv]

In the 70's and 80's, I was working for a hospital in the Data Center but nevertheless had to have a TB skin test each year. One year I developed a big red welt.

I was in my 20's, healthy, athletic and there was no way in heck I would have agreed to go on medication.

The hospital had in its employ a large number of Filipinos...nurses, pharm techs and clerical staff. In fact, one pharm tech told me she was a doctor in the Philippines but was not allowed to practice medicine in the U.S. (because the education requirements were different) and so worked in a job she felt was beneath her and I'm sure it was. There were 3 Filipino ladies in my dept and when I told them about my TB skin test, one lady smiled very sweetly and told me she gets that reaction every year and she was not sick.

I was not told to get a chest x-ray so it must have been a false positive. I quit that year and so had no other TB skin tests. I have always been curious if I would have another false positive but never had another test. It was upsetting.

[esmeraldagooch]

It's found in intestines also.

[ChynnaBlue]

On 7/20/2014 terrier3 said:

On 7/20/2014 happycat said:

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.

Yes, you are right about that. There are lots of folks coming into this country, and who knows what they might be bringing with them.

...and there are a lot of native born people who haven't been able to afford a doctor for years who also may have TB.

When I was a f/t social worker, we saw many people with TB, hepatitis, illnesses you think they would have taken care of. Many street people have these illnesses - and kids whose parents don't believe in shots . This is why universal healthcare is so important. It protects US from the poor sick people all around us - like the guy making burgers at McDs or the cashier at Walmart.

I totally agree. And consider - when was the last time you had a TB test? I used to get them for school and for some jobs I had when I worked with kids. Once I started working with adults in corporate America, I never had to get a TB test to work and I haven't gotten once since. It's easy for things to go undiagnosed when no one is looking for them and when you aren't going to doctors.