In2why Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My adult daughter cares for my MIL, since she needs care, but not nursing care. We all spend at least one day a week with her, sometimes more. The kids are in her lap, loving her on a regular basis. She just had a test for TB because the doctor wanted to start her on a new medicine for her arthritis and not only is she a carrier for TB, she has an active infection. I have a call into our doctors office, but they are closed for lunch and I am sure it will be next week before we get in, and then they give the test, and you go back in a couple days for the reading. I don't know how serious this could be. I am thinking about the kids. Should I still let them go out and play, swimming lessons, and regular life. I don't know that they have it but I know they were exposed. I know that many people are carriers and never have the infection. Should we just isolate ourselves until we get results. Anyone familiar with this? If one of some of us have it, my understanding is that there is a 6 month daily medication regiment. I can't imagine that people stay home for 6 months. My head is reeling. I guess my first question is today and this weekend......the neighborhood kids will begin knocking on the door in 2 hours. I know if my kids have it, I will need to tell people that their children might have been exposed, but should I mention it now? and start a panic that I can't answer because I don't know. Sure wish my doctor would call me back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Deleted - I decided I didn't know enough to advise. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 First off - how did they determine she had an active infection? If all they did was a skin test - don't worry a bit. They are notorious for false positives and odd reactions. The only 100% sure way to make sure it is an active case is the new blood test, I think it's called Quantaferron or something similar. I wouldn't change a thing right now - make sure your kids get plenty of sunlight for Vit. D, as it has been shown that people with low Vit. D are at higher risk for TB. It is up to you if you want to have the family tested for TB - just be aware that the skin test does have a high false positive rate and can cause issues itself. As for catching it - it's not all that easy to catch. My dad had TB when I was a baby, and even living in a small camper in tight quarters with him caring for me 24/7, neither me nor my mom got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) I think it's best to wait to hear from your doctor. I would be pretty upset, too, and probably choose to keep to ourselves until I had some answers. :grouphug: Edited to add: Frugalmama, I hope that's true, but two groups of people in our church caught TB after very slight exposure, some on a mission trip and others serving the homeless in our city. I wouldn't be quick to assume it's not all that catching. Edited January 20, 2012 by Tibbie Dunbar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 You are most likely NOT infected. However, it would be the kind thing to do to stay away from the neighborhood kids until you can speak with your doctor and get tested yourself. I'm going to assume that you are all healthy and that you practice basic sanitation practices and that's the best we can do until your doctor's office opens back up. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renmew Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I wouldn't worry too badly. My dad had an active case when I was a toddler. Of the four of us girls, only one became a carrier after living with him through his illness. She has never had an active case. Even my mom was fine. Still a good idea to check with a doctor, though, and keep to yourselves for the weekend, just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 We have had experience with a family member having a positive tb test. Even though the infection was not active, the dr and the cdc recommended a 9 month course of Isoniazid and oversight by our county health dept. Isolation was not an issue. Giving the medicine every single day without fail was important. I guess our county has had issues with tb, so each person with an active test is referred to the county and is seen on a monthly basis throughout the 9 months. The meds are free through the county. This happened almost a decade ago, though, so things may be different now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factseries/exposure_eng.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My dd was exposed to TB when she was a baby. We found out when she was a year old and the pediatrician gave her the TB skin patch test and she tested positive. The doctor gave her a drug called INH that she had to take for almost a year. The good news, is that TB is apparently a very slow growing bacteria (hence the reason she had to take the medicine for so long), but once you've been exposed to it, any TB test you take after will show positive since your body "recognizes" the bacteria. My dd took the INH until she was almost 2 and she is now 14 and a half and has never gotten sick. HTH. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Until you test negative, please make sure you don't visit anyone you know is sick with things like arthritis, cancer, MS, had a transplant, and some other diseases. Anyone who is likely to be taking medications to lower their immune response. There are lots of us out there and exposure to TB for us is particularly dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Your family may be put on a lower dose antibiotic. I believe Isoniazid is the drug of choice or was in the late nineties. It is not as easy to catch as a cold. If you were only there for a short period of time, I would not worry. If you have any other questions, PM me. Unfortunately, we have first hand experience with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I still haven't heard from the.doctor yet, and based on my reading it probably is a false positive. They did take Mils blood today, and since she had a chest xray last week to check for the medicine they will read that. The doctor didn't seem concerned or tell Mil to quarantine herself we are going to go on with normal life. None of us are sick, or have coughs, and worse case scenario the same kids mine play with, are together all the time already. I am more worried about my.adult DD. She works with the elderly as a part time caretaker and has a decent part time business that she is hoping to expand into fulltime (not CNA care) but light housekeeping, errands, reading, taking them to appointments) and even if she tests falsely it might be a problem. But I am encouraging her not to worry until there is something to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Until you test negative, please make sure you don't visit anyone you know is sick with things like arthritis, cancer, MS, had a transplant, and some other diseases. Anyone who is likely to be taking medications to lower their immune response. There are lots of us out there and exposure to TB for us is particularly dangerous. Of course Chris, this is my fear, and my MIL is immune compromised so I understand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 We have had experience with a family member having a positive tb test. Even though the infection was not active, the dr and the cdc recommended a 9 month course of Isoniazid and oversight by our county health dept. Isolation was not an issue. Giving the medicine every single day without fail was important. I guess our county has had issues with tb, so each person with an active test is referred to the county and is seen on a monthly basis throughout the 9 months. The meds are free through the county. This happened almost a decade ago, though, so things may be different now. This was how it happened with my dh back in 1989. He went to work for the school district and was tested. He was positive. He tooks meds for 9 months and that was it. I was never positive or our ds - who was a baby at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Was your MIL told she had an active case after the chest x-ray? There is a big difference in a positive skin test, which in no way indicates an active case of TB, and a positive chest x-ray, which almost certainly does. Your MIL is not contagious if she does not have an active case. I would find these things out yourself and research the protocol yourself, rather than taking your pediatrician's word for it. When my Chinese daughter had a positive skin test when we brought her home, our pediatrician was dead wrong in more than one thing that he told us. For example: 1. My daughter had a negative chest x-ray, and when I stopped giving her the meds because it was interfering with our bonding, which I considered significantly more important than immediately addressing the possibility that she had a 15% chance of contracting active TB over the course of the rest of her life, the ped told me we were required by law to treat her and that he would consider whether to turn us over to the health department. Only active cases are required by law to be treated. It still annoys me that he threatened us with that. For all I know, he did try to turn us in, and the TB office laughed at him. 2. When, several months later, I was ready to start treatment over and requested a pill, rather than the foul-tasting liquid, he gave us a prescription for double the recommended dose. I confirmed with several reliable sources, such as the TB nurse at the health department, that my interpretation of the dosage instructions was correct. I dosed her correctly. Anyway, all of that is to say that a pediatrician in a lily-white, middle-class neighborhood may not be the best expert on TB. Mine sure wasn't, and I am glad that I did my homework. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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