What does this mean? Tuberculosis related.

[Blueemeraldagain]

Hi, I’m hoping someone out there works in a TB clinic or something similar!

I, along with a dozen or so of my colleagues, recently had a blood test as someone we work with developed full blown TB. (They made a full recovery- keeping a bit vague on purpose).

5 of the 12 (including me) have been texted today (tried to call several times but we can’t answer mobiles at work) telling us we have an appointment at a local hospital from the ‘TB Team’. All the appointments are on the same day at the same time in the same place but different suites.

I know this is a bit of a long shot but does anyone know what this means? Does this mean I have latent TB?

Bump?

did they do the prick test?
if that's positive (possibly if you have been vaccinated).

tb is not very infective, you need quite close contact and bad hygiene.

Did they do the heaf (so?) test where you get a ring of little dots?

Have you had a reaction- is it raised and bumpy? This means you have some tb antibodies in your bloodstream- it could mean you have had a tb jab in the past or that you have been in contact with active tb.
Any reaction at all they will call you in for more tests and possibly a chest X-ray.
Try not to worry- it's actually quite difficult to catch tb unless you have been in prolonged close contact and these days it can be treated and cured.

Ps about 35 years ago I worked in a tb clinic

I thought they stopped doing the heaf test years ago because they couldn’t sterilise the needles and producing the kit for single use was too costly?

Test for TB is a blood test called "quanterferon Gold"

We had an elderly relative contract TB years ago and I ended up having to go for chest x-ray. I had no symptoms - I'd had the BCG - but they still did it.

@averylongtimeago

How apt your user name is.

Heaf tests haven't been used for years. About 15 years.

My grandad had TB years ago. The whole family had to have heaf tests and chest xrays. None of us had contracted it. He was housebound and had caught it off a family friends boyfriend. I should imagine you will have a chest xray.

I had a blood sample taken that was to be tested.
I haven’t had the BCG (I have a chromosome disorder that makes it tricky; I/my parents are not anti-vax)

The lack of “infectiousness” (can you tell
I’m not a medic?) is what’s confusing me. 4 of us have been made an appointment which leaves about 9 who haven’t. Surely if we didn’t have it they wouldn’t summon us to tell us? And if for some inexplicable reason they had, then they would have summoned all of us? But the chances of 4 of us contracting it seem so small? The only thing I can think of that links 3 of the 4 of us is being from/living in America (2 North, 1 South). Perhaps it’s more common there and has been latent since childhood?

Annoyingly the helpline closes at 4, which makes it difficult to get in contact.

Thanks for all the advice and reassurance so far.

has been latent since childhood?
I think it can only be latent for about 18 months so not since childhood

If 5 (well, 6) of you in the same workplace developed latent TB through occupational exposure, I think this would be considered a fairly big deal from a public health perspective, I think. I work in infectious diseases, though not with TB specifically.

I suspect the appointment could just be to give you your results. But your results all came back first? How urgent are the appointments? If they are a month from now, that’s one thing, if they are Tuesday, that would be another.

It’s a bit of a tricky situation to explain. I don’t want to give too much a way. I guess I can say I teach in a school. The 4 of us are adults. The other (patient zero I suppose) is not.

My appointment is next Thursday. I hadn’t thought given the numbers the results may be staggered.

Robin --and needsomesleep I did say it was 35 years ago!

I googled and the Heaf test was discontinued in 2005, so 14yrs ago. I (and the rest of my year) must have been one of the last few to get it because I had a Heaf test in 2005 when the TB nurse came to our school.

What happened O0?