X-ray and TB screening
 

I know lots of you will have done this because of the greencard process, so thought I'd ask if anyonw knows why...

So many Brits/ Europeans will have had to get a chest X-ray done for your greencard medical. I was wondering if this is because the skin tests show up as positive for TB due the the trace elements of the TB virus in the BCG vaccine we were given in our early teens?

Or have I made this up through mis-information / a dream?

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Yes, that is the reason, my TB test always gives a false positive now, I actually had the tb test when I was pregnant with my 2nd child, I told them it would be positive, it was. Then I had an Xray, they said I actually did have TB and I had to go on meds for 6 months...They had all my family tested too, nothing showed up in anyone else, I really don't think I had it either, but I took the tablets.:confused:

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

i had the shot when i was at school - but i (and my husband who is a similar age but from a totally different part of the UK) both passed a TB test in December. SO it is not an automatic problem.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Glad to know its not one of those bits of information / events I have dreamt and convinced myself is real! Yes, that does happen to me!:o

Hmm interesting! Do you think that is why they dont vaccinate for it here in the US?

So I rekon I'll have to do the chest x-ray then. (Volunteering at a hopsital and they want proof I dont have TB) How much does an x-ray cost in these parts then, or is it something insurance will cover in the main do you think?

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

My TB skin test was positive and so I had the chest X ray. My insurance paid for it.
I am working for our local school district and they require a TB skin test every year and I can't have one because it will always be positive and the reaction will be worse each time.
I don't want an annual chest xray and so I have been looking into the TB blood test called The QuantiFERON®-TB Gold test

http://www.cdc.gov/TB/pubs/tbfactsheets/qft.htm

Luckily a clinic in my area offers it and I think I would rather have that than annual xrays or just find another job.
The school district doesn't seem to consider that a child could have TB and give it to everyone else.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Had the positive reaction to the test .....ensue panic...dispatched to the local hospital...people talking to me with masks over their faces ...horror in their eyes ...all the time I'm trying to explain that in the UK we have a vaccination whilst at high school...one nurse was very rude ...told me I was wrong and that it was a smallpox vaccination, she even looked at the scar ...x-ray done and specialist on his way from Bloomington....specialist arrives ...talks to me for 30 seconds ...smiles ..laughs ..."your English you had the BCG vaccination"....."yes" I reply.....the x-ray was clear, as we knew it would be ...the specialist informed the surgical masked throng...who all looked rather sheepish and shuffled their feet ...they tried to bill me ...but it turns out that if your an immigrant and have a suspected case of TB then the test and treatment is free of charge ...so who had the last laugh ;)

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

I also had a reaction to the test for my green card (blotchy skin vs raised bump) as I did when I had the test a year before (working with adults with developmental disablilties and a year after my green card test for the same reason, never had a chest xray with any of them. (I also have the TB vaccination)

The blotches actually also stayed on my arm for a good 2 months after, it kinda turned in to more of a bruise type mark. I think this is more me being allergic to the world however. The nurse said it wasn't too uncommon to have this kinda reaction.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

When I had my TB test I was certain that would have the Reaction and have to do all the x-rays etc that everyone here talks/ed about.

No reaction for me, woo!! although I did have a bruise from the test for 4 weeks afterwards.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

This topic has appeared LOADS of times.

BCG doesn't work very well.

For US immigration purposes, a positive PPD (ie >10mm) requires a chest xray.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Didn't know there even was a possibility of not having a chest x-ray....I didn't have a TB test, straight to x-ray. Was under the impression it was a standard requirement (then again, I did apply through the US Embassy in Cyprus, maybe the regs are different there).

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

An Indian colleague who had also been vaccinated took the skin test and had a massive reaction (weeping ulcer type response) and had to have the X-ray for her GC application (and was clear of TB). Based on this (and I had already had a partial reaction to the skin test before my senior school vaccination) I refused the skin test and asked my family practitioner to arrange a chest X-ray which she was able to do through my insurance.

TB has always had a special "interest" for me. After WWII my granddad was diagnosed with TB and had to spend time in Warwick Chest Hospital in the '50s when my dad was a boy. He was left with half a functional lung. Unfortunately my granddad smoked 40 B&H a day until he died aged 62 of bronchial pneumonia.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

We all had the TB skin tests and my hubbie and daughter had practically no visible reaction. I had a slightly raised bump which the nurse looked at twice but couldn't be arsed to look further into and just shrugged her shoulders! So luckily I didn't have to go for X-ray. :)

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Same here but I DCF in London, I'm guessing it must have changed.

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

Sorry, didnt think to search before i posted! PPD is??

Re: X-ray and TB screening
 

I just went through this. Had a positive test (both me and OH), both had xrays the week after and were fine. Likely you've nothing to worry about.

Although I had wished I'd chosen a slightly more salubrious place to get my medical report and xray done, but thats another story :)