Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

PPD test

i have daughter her age now 2 years and 6 months....she was born over seaes after three month from her birth  she had traveled to usa to live there...when she had 2 years the doctor done for her PPD test and her skin size is 6 mm and said to me i will repeat the test aftter 6 month in 9-12-2003 when i did for her the test and there are two size for her skin one is20 mm and the seconed  9 mm and i did for her X-ray on her chets the result neagtive and the docotr said to me she infectede and he will give a medication for called INH  for 9 month
but i am worry about this medaction .
she had BCG vaccine from one week from her birth
i want to know dose she infeccted by tuberculosis bacteria?
is this postive form BCG vaccine ?
this is medcatoins has a lot of side effective may to happned to her through treatmnt
id i repeat the ppd test for her again her skin size will be large?
if she takes this INH will effcet in her abality to have babyes or in her parido ?
if i don't give her the medication is ther any danger for her?
4 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
251132 tn?1198078822
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test for tuberculosis may be positive or negative after getting the bacille calmette-guerin (BCG) vaccine.  When the BCG vaccine causes the PPD to be positive, the typical pattern is for the initial PPD to be positive.  Over time the PPD may become negative.  Your daughter
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
her doctor know she had the BCG vaccine but he said she had inffected
thanks
nado
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Does her doctor know that she had the BCG vaccine?  After someone receives this vaccine, they will ALWAYS test positive on a PPD skin test.  

Make sure the doctor knows she had the vaccine.  Usually, if the chest xray is negative, the patient will simply be watched with more xrays to be sure they are not infected with pulmonary TB.

Good luck!  My husband also had theBCG vaccine, and had a PPD skin test that was very positive.  Then he told the doctor he had received the vaccine, and the matter was dropped after he had a few negative chest xrays.

When immigrants apply for citizenship in the US, if they have received BCG vaccine in their past, they only have to have a chest xray, not a PPD test as is required of all other immigrants.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Here's a link that may answers your question:

http://www.fwcc.org/TB_BCG.htm
Tuberculosis Testing and the BCG Vaccine
Excerpt:
"The BCG vaccine does not protect completely against pulmonary
tuberculosis (tuberculosis in the lungs). Instead, it protects children from the complications of tuberculosis, which include spread to the kidneys and spinal fluid surrounding the brain.
..............................
In the United States health care providers use a simple skin test called the PPD (purified protein derivative) to test for exposure to tuberculosis.The test is interpreted by measuring the amount of this induration. For a child or adult born in a developing nation, a measurement of 10 millimeters (mm) is considered to
be the sign of a significant, or positive exposure to tuberculosis. The child should then have a chest x-ray to rule out pulmonary tuberculosis. If the physician finds no evidence of active disease, children should then be started on a medication called Isoniazid, which needs to be taken daily for the next nine months. This prevents the tuberculosis germ, already in the body (but not yet causing disease) from becoming active and
resulting in serious illness. Isoniazid sometimes causes liver toxicity in adults, but is considered to be a very safe medication in children. It is important that the treatment with Isoniazid not be interrupted for the whole nine months, as this could result in the germ becoming resistant to the antibiotic. Physicians may need to be reminded that Isoniazid may interact with other medications. Children with a positive PPD test and
negative chest x- ray have only been exposed to the tuberculosis germ, and are not contagious to other children or adults in the same way that infected adults are contagious (so they do not need to be excluded from day care or school)."

Helpful - 0

You are reading content posted in the Respiratory Disorders Forum

Popular Resources
Find out what causes asthma, and how to take control of your symptoms.
Healing home remedies for common ailments
Tricks to help you quit for good.
Is your area one of the dirtiest-air cities in the nation?
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.