Russia and PPD

You can get bloodwork now testing for TB; its called the Quanti-ferron Gold test which tests (through ELISA) for INF-Gamma of active t-lymphocytes for mycobacteria tb, not the proteins in the BCG vaccine. Google this lab test online and see about its specificity/sensitivity and where you can go to get it. It's brand new so it depends on locality and will probably be expensive.

From CDC website:

"Testing for TB in BCG-Vaccinated Persons
Many foreign-born persons have been BCG-vaccinated. BCG vaccination may cause a positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test (TST), which may complicate decisions about prescribing treatment. Despite this potential for BCG to interfere with test results, the TST and the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold test (QFT-G) are not contraindicated for persons who have been vaccinated with BCG. The presence or size of a TST reaction in these persons does not predict whether BCG will provide any protection against TB disease. Furthermore, the size of a TST reaction in a BCG-vaccinated person is not a factor in determining whether the reaction is caused by LTBI or the prior BCG vaccination."

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/pubs/tbfactsheets/250120.htm

berrygirl said:

Okay, so being from Russia, when I was born, I got a BCG vaccine which is the vaccine against TB... now my PPD is positive and even though my chest x-ray is clear the doc wants to put me on 9 months of antibiotics... to make it even more difficult I dont have any proof of a BCG from Russia except for a scar on my arm...
anyone else is having this problem??? what do did you do about this??
9 months of antibiotics just does not sound all that great

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Your doctor sucks.

Quantiferon + CXR confirms the absence of MTB. Should be repeated every two years.

Yeah, I thought that if you had a clear CXR you can assume you don't have TB. I've had the BCG vaccine and I've never had a positive PPD.

The BCG vaccine generally does (but not always) convert a person to a positive PPD. This is the main reason that the BCG vaccine is targeted only to high risk groups. Here in the US where the prevalence is fairly low, we would rather screen w/ PPD skin test & CXR (I guess).

berrygirl said:

Okay, so being from Russia, when I was born, I got a BCG vaccine which is the vaccine against TB... now my PPD is positive and even though my chest x-ray is clear the doc wants to put me on 9 months of antibiotics... to make it even more difficult I dont have any proof of a BCG from Russia except for a scar on my arm...
anyone else is having this problem??? what do did you do about this??
9 months of antibiotics just does not sound all that great

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I had the same, I am from ukraine and have the same problem. My dr understood...

i'm russian, we've all had the vaccine but i'm the only one in my family who had a positive rxn to ppd. i took 9 months of pills...but that was soon after i moved, so i didn't even know i could argue it..

I lived in Russia for a summer and right after that turned up PPD positive. I took the INH and B-12 for 9 months. If at all possible i would try to get out of it. The INH has seveal odd reactions and you need monthly blood draws and generally its a pain in the ass. I gave me asthma (for the last 3 months and 3 months after discontinued use) rx to salmon, chocolate, and a couple of other items that i have never had issues with before or after the INH. If you do get out of it.... keep your paper work handy this is probably going to a frequent issue!

Best of Luck!

NolanDNA said:

I lived in Russia for a summer and right after that turned up PPD positive. I took the INH and B-12 for 9 months. If at all possible i would try to get out of it. The INH has seveal odd reactions and you need monthly blood draws and generally its a pain in the ass. I gave me asthma (for the last 3 months and 3 months after discontinued use) rx to salmon, chocolate, and a couple of other items that i have never had issues with before or after the INH. If you do get out of it.... keep your paper work handy this is probably going to a frequent issue!

Best of Luck!

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did you have a BCG? if not then you were probably exposed to TB..

anyway, I had a couple BCGs and I turn up positive every time. But as long as I have had a cxr every 4 years I have no problems.

Kuba,

As long as you know that you have a positive PPD, you shouldn't have one placed anymore. Tell them that you had exposure that converted you to positive & refer them to your last CXR. I really don't understand why people who are positive continue to get tested w/ a PPD, yet people do.

Krazykritter said:

Kuba,

As long as you know that you have a positive PPD, you shouldn't have one placed anymore. Tell them that you had exposure that converted you to positive & refer them to your last CXR. I really don't understand why people who are positive continue to get tested w/ a PPD, yet people do.

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I say that sometimes. But the truth of the matter is, at some point my immunity will go away and I won't test positive anymore, so what's the hurt in trying once in a while.