MBM Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 My son's friend's brother (J) has been quarantined with tuberculosis. J recently finished his sophomore year at college, came home and was sick for about a month with what they thought was pneumonia. It turns out he has TB. They think he might have picked it up in India about two years ago when he was doing volunteer work there and that it was latent TB (??). Anyway, he's very sick now and was quarantined in the hospital about a week ago. My son just found out from his friend today that his brother has TB. Ds has been over to their house off and on -- maybe 3-4 times -- while J's been sick but he wasn't around J at all. J was in other rooms, though, and he was sick. Has anyone been through this or could you explain what a person should do? Ds is very social and works at the swimming pool. No signs of cough, fever, sickness of any kind, so I suppose that's good. I will definitely call our pediatrician tomorrow to see what he recommends. I just want to make sure we do the right things going forward. Any suggestions or advice? TIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I've been exposed to TB living in different places. I just get tested periodically. I'm sure your doctor will have him tested. It's unlikely he's been infected. Even if he has, that doesn't mean he'll develop TB. If his test and possible subsequent chest x-ray come back positive, then they can start treating the infection even though there are no symptoms. But do go get tested soon. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Thank you, Amira. Yes, I think we'll be getting tested. My son is more worried about possibly exposing his girlfriend. He doesn't want her to get sick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 First he gets tested. If it is positive, then a chest X-ray is done. If the chest X-ray shows possible signs of TB, then he gets treated. Treatment is typically 6 months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Six months?!! Wow, I had no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 My husband had the BCG vax growing up in Egypt. Whenever he applies for privileges at a new hospital, he has to get the Quantiferon TB test. They no longer do those little four pricks that I used to get as a kid. The good thing is there's no coming back to see if the pricks caused a change or whatever. This is a blood test...so you'll most likely end up at Quest or LabCorp (or whomever your insurance likes.) Then they follow with a chest x-ray, if needed. I'm sorry you have to deal with this scare. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 A friend of mine who was infected in Kyrgyzstan was on antibiotics for 9 months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 What is strange is that my son's friend has not been tested yet. His brother has TB and is quarantined but he hasn't been tested yet. I don't understand why. And here I am freaking out! LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 It can take a while for the test to be positive after you've been infected. I'm not sure if they usually have you wait to be tested, but that may be what they're doing with J's family. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 That is weird. Normally all the people under the same roof is tested just in case as TB is a communicable disease. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 You can take a prophylactic medication for TB. I believe there is more than one. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Two of my children had the BCG vaccine as infants before we adopted them. Their skin tests for TB were reactive, so they had to have chest x-rays, which were clear. One of them had such a large skin reaction, however, that it was recommended for him to receive the medication just in case. It was a nine month once-a-day dose. The health department actually provided the medicine to us at no cost, and a nurse had to come out daily to watch him take his medicine for a couple of weeks until they were sure that we were doing it consistently. So if your son has been exposed and has a positive skin test and chest x-ray, the course of treatment is manageable. Taking medicine once a day for nine months would be inconvenient but not a terrible ordeal. If it comes to that, check with the health department to see if they will provide the medicine for free. I hope his friend recovers well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Thank you, Amira. Yes, I think we'll be getting tested. My son is more worried about possibly exposing his girlfriend. He doesn't want her to get sick. It is so sweet that he is thinking of her health more than his own. :001_wub: I hope you all test negative. You must be so worried, particularly about your son! :grouphug: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbi in Texas Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Several years ago there was an outbreak in dh's workplace. An employee had been coughing for some time, but would not go to the doctor. When he finally did go, he had TB. The state health department set up inside the workplace and tested everyone. Dh did have it and treatment was close to a year. I had ds and myself tested on our own, but we checked negative for it.It was a pretty big deal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonesinIndiana Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I test positive with a TB skin test, so that means I was exposed to a person with active TB at some point in my life. (We don't know who or where it occurred. I have been in dental since the early 80's, so the exposure could have been then.) When I tested positive, I had a chest X-ray - negative, and then was put on INZ?INH? for 6 months. I was told to never take a TB skin test again because I will always test positive. HTH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I test positive with a TB skin test, so that means I was exposed to a person with active TB at some point in my life. (We don't know who or where it occurred. I have been in dental since the early 80's, so the exposure could have been then.) When I tested positive, I had a chest X-ray - negative, and then was put on INZ?INH? for 6 months. I was told to never take a TB skin test again because I will always test positive. HTH FWIW, I test positive as well. I am too old for the prophylactic drug so I had periodic x-rays instead. Then they told me that there was a bloodtest that they could do now - quantiferon. It showed that I was not exposed but am actually allergic to the TB test. So now I just don't get tested anymore but can skip the x-rays etc. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Keep in mind as you are reading everyone's anecdotes about a six- or nine-month "treatment" that this is not the same treatment that your friend's brother is undergoing in isolation in a hospital. The six-to-nine-month treatment is what you get if you have a positive TB skin test but a negative chest x-ray, meaning you have been exposed to TB but do not have an active case. When my Chinese daughter had a positive skin test at 15 months, I think I read that the chance of the exposure's ever leading to active TB was something like 20% over the course of her life. The daily treatment (which is not actually accurate, because you are treating something that doesn't exactly exist) involves taking an antibiotic once/day for the prescribed number of months. The friend's brother obviously has active TB, and that can require isolation or forced treatment. He's not staying in isolation for six months, and neither is anyone else who has a positive skin test. In many states, treatment of active TB is mandated by law, and you can be imprisoned if you do not comply. No state requires treatment of a positive skin test without active TB. I throw this out only because I got into an argument about this with our pediatrician who threatened to report me to the Public Health Department when I postponed treatment for six months. Jerk. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 FWIW, I test positive as well. I am too old for the prophylactic drug so I had periodic x-rays instead. Then they told me that there was a bloodtest that they could do now - quantiferon. It showed that I was not exposed but am actually allergic to the TB test. So now I just don't get tested anymore but can skip the x-rays etc. I have wondered if this wasn't the case with my Chinese daughter who had a positive skin test at 15 months. She is 15 now, and we now know that EVERYTHING makes her break out. Looking back on it, I think there's about a 50/50 chance that she was actually exposed to TB and wish we had not done the antibiotics especially at such a young age. The antibiotic treatment is not without risks, albeit minor ones, but it is not something I would do again without better reason. She did have one of the side effects show up near the end of her treatment period, though of course my stubborn pediatrician would never have admitted that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonesinIndiana Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 FWIW, I test positive as well. I am too old for the prophylactic drug so I had periodic x-rays instead. Then they told me that there was a bloodtest that they could do now - quantiferon. It showed that I was not exposed but am actually allergic to the TB test. So now I just don't get tested anymore but can skip the x-rays etc.Wow! I didn't know there was a blood test. Good to know. My older daughter, adopted from China, has a scar on her arm like a small pox? vaccine. We were told by our International Adoption MD that it was a TB vaccine done at her orphanage. Edit to add: the IA MD told us our daughter shouldn't have the TB skin test because she will test false positive due to the vaccine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Wow! I didn't know there was a blood test. Good to know. My older daughter, adopted from China, has a scar on her arm like a small pox? vaccine. We were told by our international adoption specialist that it was a TB vaccine done at her orphanage. Yeah. All my older brothers and sisters had the vaccine. (We grew up in Japan.) For some reason I didn't. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 PS - the TB vaccine can make you test positive on a TB test. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonesinIndiana Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 PS - the TB vaccine can make you test positive on a TB test. Was editing my post to add that! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Thanks for the replies, everyone. Our pediatrician is not going to be back until Monday, so we will have to wait to talk to him. A nurse told us that it's unlikely my son was exposed long enough but they will probably do the test anyway just to make sure. J is home now and was in isolation for awhile which is different than quarantine, I guess. He responded well to the meds and is on the mend now. Poor guy! His brother, my son's friend, took it all in stride, though. Maybe too much! Thanks again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 My husband tested positive for it when he was 19. He only found out because he got a job with them school district and they required the test. He did the 9 month medication deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Two of my children had the BCG vaccine as infants before we adopted them. Their skin tests for TB were reactive, so they had to have chest x-rays, which were clear. One of them had such a large skin reaction, however, that it was recommended for him to receive the medication just in case. It was a nine month once-a-day dose. The health department actually provided the medicine to us at no cost, and a nurse had to come out daily to watch him take his medicine for a couple of weeks until they were sure that we were doing it consistently. So if your son has been exposed and has a positive skin test and chest x-ray, the course of treatment is manageable. Taking medicine once a day for nine months would be inconvenient but not a terrible ordeal. If it comes to that, check with the health department to see if they will provide the medicine for free. I hope his friend recovers well. This shouldn't happen anymore. Unfortunately, many doctors still don't know but the Quantiferon test can tell if it's a BCG reaction or truly TB so someone won't be treated unnecessarily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarinesWife Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 We were potentially exposed and we got tested twice. Both were negative. In the meantime we kept going about our same business. The risk was low, as is your son's risk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Our school district requires classroom volunteers to complete a TB test every 2 years. Since I am a volunteer there, I ask my GP to do a TB test every 2 years - the skin test takes less than 10 minutes. OP, just call your son's doctor and ask what needs to be done - I am guessing that they will perform a skin test first and then take it from there if there is any need to look further into it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Not meaning to be flip... but in medical school DW had a couple of friends who tested positive for TB, the real pain was you weren't supposed to drink alcohol for 6mos while taking the drugs. The Europeans who tested positive because of BCG had some periodic chest x-ray monitoring option instead of a course of drugs. Providing this isn't multi-drug resistant it shouldn't be a huge issue. ((hugs)) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 It's likely not as bad as it sounds. Many people in the broader health care field are exposed and test positive. I do. I was told I have actually more antibodies than those who were never exposed. If your doc deems it necessary, s/he may put your dc on isoniazid or a similar preventative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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