Exposion to tuberculosis

Hello,

My son who is 10 year old just had the PPD test and we were told that it

[National Jewish]

A PPD that resulted in 15 to 16 mm of swelling called induration, virtually all authorities would call this

[wntinfo]

Hi,

Even the same thing happened for one of my relative, He stayed in a v neat & clean place and never even had any symptoms of TB. During his routine medical check up he was diagnosed for TB, the chest x-ray showed the signs of TB. Whole family was wonderstruck as to how did he & where from he got infected.. God knows still a mystery !!

Ever since hes undergoing treatment and his body is reponding v well for the antibiotics. He has signs of v gud resolution of the xray.

I wanted to know how long will it usually take to get a clean xray report, hes been asked to take medicines for 6months and has completed 1month with gud signs of improvment..
Is it advisable to take xray every month. will it cause overexposure to xrays and hv any impact in future.. Plz advice experts.

[caregiver222]

It is unnecessary to get an x-ray every month and yes, it involves unnecessary radiation exposure. There is no safe threshold of exposure. You will find a different opinion from radiologists, but they are wrong. This is not to say you should never get an x-ray. If in fact, your son has been exposed to TB, he will never be free of the disease. It encapsulates and remains dormant. That is the best you can do. TB is a vicious disease that does not necessarily reside in the lung, contrary to popular belief. The resurgance is due in large part to undocumented illegal aliens. On the positive side, during the 1920's, virtually 100 percent of health care workers tested positive for TB, and dormant TB is exactly that. Assuming your son maintains a healthy immune system he may never again have a flare up.

[IKAP]

Thank you for the replies!
So far I can't find the lab that does QuantiFeron test. Also they say that there is no studies that test would be accurate for children. I guess we will do a repeat PPD. i just hope my son won't get even worse reaction to it.

I have a question to Caregiver222. You said: "If in fact, your son has been exposed to TB, he will never be free of the disease." I was told that taking the Isoniazid should kill any dormant TB. Isn't it true?
Thanks!