mustangsally 05:25 PM 02-25-2009
A woman started working in our baby room yesterday. Today is had her TB test read and it was positive. She went for a chest xray but that is all we know. She came in wearing a mask and told me her Dr. will not let her work. My boss doesn't want me to say anything to anybody about this. If she is positive won't the health dept be contacted? I don't know any thing about TB and I am a bit concerned since she was in the baby room all afternoon. Any suggestions?
nagytorta 09:44 AM 02-27-2009
I think she will be forced to be treated.
However she may have a positive test under certain conditions even if she is perfectly healthy.
You may get a positive reaction not only if you have the disease, but also if you have been exposed to a protein that is similar to TB. The protein is used in Central/Eastern Europe to test for TB and the way it works is that it "fools" the immune system to "think" that there is TB bacteria present and based on the immune response to the shot it is determined if the person is sick or not.
However if one HAS ALREADY BEEN EXPOSED to the protein (which is harmless), her body may react in a way that may be read AS IF she has TB. In this case X-ray shows if her lungs are clean or not.
I am familiar with this because I grew up in Russia where we were given PPD (the protein) and I know that a mistake may happen and a person may be forced to be treated even if they are perfectly healthy which is kind of dangerous. So care must be taken in determining whether the patient really has the disease in his/her lung.