What do you know about Tuberculosis?

We had a TB exposure at work about ten years ago. Everyone had to be tested. A couple people were found to be infected but not infectious; they were put on antibiotics and told to stay home for a week.

One young lady was found out be active, and got put on a six month course of Cipro, a very strong antibiotic. She was essentially quarantined at home for three months, and had to be checked by the Health Dept. every couple weeks.

She was a heavy smoker, and was told that contributed to her being more vulnerable and extended her recovery. Fortunately, she did not have a resistant strain.

Lots of TB exposure still here in the US. Some people opt to take antibiotics when they find out they are positive for exposure. It is supposed to reduce your chances of getting active TB. Some health care professionals won’t even tell you it’s an option.

Once you get a positive TB test you should not have the test done anymore, you should get a chest X-ray. Some countries vaccinate and the test can’t be done, because you will show positive when you aren’t. America does not vaccinate.

People with active TB need to be isolated from others. They need to take many months of antibiotics.

One of the old mods here has dedicated his life to finding a vaccine for TB. Like he works at a university and runs his own lab with helpers to fix TB. As far as I know progress, but no solution.

I was a bit baffled when he told me what he did. I thought it was a solved thing. Not even close to being solved. And a lot of people still die from it. But 1 million people got it last year and 400K people died. So it is a very real and serious thing.

He has a hard time getting funding but 20 dead from ISIS is a congressional hearing away.

@johnpowell BCG is the vaccine given for TB. I don’t think the efficacy is fabulous, from what I remember, but it’s considered worth doing if the person is going to be regularly exposed to TB regularly in very close proximity. The US does it for specific situations, some countries do it more systematically. A better vaccine would be better though I would guess. I didn’t know researchers were working on one currently.

Do antibiotics cure it or just make it dormant/inactive? Is it still contagious if inactive?

It’s not contagious when it’s inactive. Believe me, if you are in the US you likely come in contact with people all the time who are positive. Unless you live out in a rural area maybe. Even then, people there can have it too.

A relative of mine, a friend, and 3 coworkers I worked with were positive. I sleep in the same bed as my relative sometimes when I’m with her. I was around the coworkers daily.

If inactive TB was contagious almost everyone who rides the NY subway would have it.

They have trouble with high rates of contagion in places where infected individuals live in close quarters with many others. The numbers are high in some country’s prisons. Often, for the more virulent cases, drugs were given to stop outbreaks. However, the dosages were not the prescribed strength, as many were treated for less $, therefore some strains of the disease became stronger and the RX’s no longer stopped the spread, nor cured.
Teachers and healthcare providers get tested more often, due to wide exposure.
My tests show up as positive, as I was exposed to it. I do not have TB, but will always have to have x-rays. It has killed individuals with weakened immune systems. It was a horrible and deadly disease, back in the beginning to mid point in the last century. There were high mortality rates, particularly in the Sanitoriums and State-run Convalescent Centers. People were sent out to the Southwestern US to recover in the dry/arid conditions.
The public school systems inoculated children every year, in the attempts to stem the disease. Numbers went down, but this disease can still be deadly today.
Like sexually transmitted diseases, if you have been exposed to a person, who turns out to have the disease in a contagious status, the Public Health Board sends out notifications which mandate that you have been exposed to the disease in a highly contagious stage, and you must come in for testing. There are legal measures on the books to force individuals who do not answer the Summons, it is a punishable offense by law.

@msh Did you take the antibiotics? Or, opt not to?

I don’t have the virus, I am just a carrier whom will show as ‘positive’ when given the skin tests like they used to give in elementary schools (about a million years ago…) I have to have a chest x-ray to show that I don’t have the telltale signs of an active strain.
It would be shocking to many, if given the skin test today, that they would show up as also being ‘positive’, when in reality, they are just a carrier -meaning having been exposed to someone with an active case of tuberculosis somewhere, from some point in their lives.
I have been exposed to two individuals who were ill with the live disease. One had a weakened immune system, where the TB found a way to attack. The other was an office worker at school, who flew on a jet to a vacation in Hawaii. The cabin air is recirculated throughout the plane. A person on-board had an unknown case of the active TB. The office worker was notified by the National Office of Disease Control to the State Health Dept, and they, in turn, told my co-worker to report to their local office the next day. (All on-board the flight were tracked down, from across the country, including the crew, to be called in for immediate testing.) She had an active case of the TB, and was put off work for quite awhile with the needed RX. We, the staff who were around her, in close contact, had to get tested. Quite a few of us knew that we had to go to get x-rays. No one else tested positive.

@msh Do you test positive by the skin test and the blood test? How long is the X-ray valid? Can you still donate blood?
So you were exposed to someone with active TB, and that’s how you built antibodies to test positive? Is that what you consider a carrier? How is a carrier different than it being dormant?

@msh You do have the bacteria, unless you are a false positive. That’s why you need the X-rays. Sometimes people take antibiotics when positive to hopefully reduce the chances of the TB becoming active. I know two people who did that, I know many people who don’t. It’s a choice.

I just googled this so jellies can get information from the CDC website rather than us random lay people on Fluther.

I believe it will helpful to the OP and anyone else who is interested.

Yes, the injected test where it looks as though you have a mosquito bite? Most folks have it go down flat and heal. Mine – carrier of the ‘exposure to’ will not. It stays red and raised. NBD. You just go to the health dept. and get x-rays taken. It’s usually free there. They look for the TB in your lungs. TB turns the lungs to… Mush. Untreated, it eats away, and makes it the person cough up blood. It is fatal. That is what in earlier time, and in some novels, they called it consumption. It’s the same thing. They had no antibiotics at that time. We do now.
It Is Curable!
Sometimes when getting a job, like teaching, one has to have a clean bill of health. I provided a copy of the x-ray. The only other time I’ve needed it was when exposed by the person at work. She was not at the stage of being able to contaminate others with the ‘live’ disease. Now cured, she will always have to have an x-ray, also.
As far as donating blood, I dunno. But- it is one of the questions you are asked prior to donating.
Question in return- were you exposed to someone with TB? You are fine, if so. You go to a GP and ask about it. No problems. They do not have TB Police or anything. Don’t confuse TB with the way they viewed Ebola. They have nothing to do with each other, nor in treatment. If you are ‘active’ you welcome the time off to rest and heal.
What has frightened you?

Yep. JLeslie has the goods. Read her attachment. It’s the same as I tried to convey.
You have a better chance of catching the flu…
Which is not to belittle it, but people are pretty quick to jump on this illness and get it under control.
It worries me that you are worrying. Are you ok @AdventureElephants?
If you want to PM me- that’s great. Please do.
Be calm. It is all fixable. It’s alright. Ok?

I went on a weekend getaway with someone that just returned from China in November. As of today I’m quarantined with TB and on heavy antibiotics for 9 months. 2016 doesn’t look so good.

@msh It’s not the same. First, you are calling it a virus and viruses are not treated with antibiotics. TB is a bacteria. Second, you are saying you don’t have the “virus” but you most likely do, because your test is positive, and the test is fairly accurate, except for those who had the vaccination as I mentioned far above. Third, you seem unaware some people opt to take antibiotics after testing positive, but I blame that on your doctors.

@AdventureElephants Was your X-ray positive? You have active TB?

@JLeslie I had the Quantiferon Gold draw yesterday and went home for the night. My levels are extremely high, whatever that means, and they did another draw today and quarantined me. X-ray tomorrow. Once active is ruled out the plan is continued quarantine for a short timeframe (it hasn’t really been discussed with me) and a strong antibiotic that starts with an “I” for 9 months. They’ve warned me the side effects suck.
At least they are talking to me like it’s going to be latent… I think. The person I was on a romantic getaway with isn’t so lucky. Maybe they’re just being optimistic.
I have no symptoms.

@AdventureElephants assuming you aren’t sick, just positive for exposure, probably taking antibiotics is optional depending where you live. I’m not saying don’t take them, just letting you know it’s something you can ask. I think most people who get sick with TB get sick within a few years of catching the bacteria (most doesn’t mean all, I just seem to remember the first few years is the highest risk time) but it’s fairly rare to actually get TB. I guess since your numbers are high they want to be very cautious with you.

Remember, you should not do any of the skin tests for TB ever again, you will be positive. Severe side effects from the test are more likely when repeated in positive patients. Your test will always be positive.

You’re not coughing are you? Or, any other health problems? If not, no reason to worry you are sick. Active TB usually has sick symptoms. Getting the X-ray is required, and good for you to check for yourself and those around you.

Did the weekend getaway person have a cough?

I’m healthy as a horse… I thought. This is all just so sudden and I’m just following orders. The health dept seems to have it all planned out. They haven’t really worded things to me as options, so maybe they’re just playing it safe until it’s confirmed I’m not active.

I’m just glad they allowed me to be quarantined at home, and trust me to show up as told.

They are doing their job. They are being pro-active. And taking care of you!
Relax. Rest. Read, watch movies, binge on a series. Eat well. And know that you will be just fine, after relaxing a bit.
Hey- more time to play on here with us! Yea!
Let us know how you’re doing, if you would.
You’re going to be alright. :)

@AdventureElephants Definitely show up for your appointments and stay in your home for the specified period. Sounds like you will be released from quarantine soon. Read up on taking the medication for exposure so you know more about it.

Sucks for sure. Wish you weren’t going through this.

Did the weekend person have a cough?

@msh Did they quarantine you and give you antibiotics? It seems you weren’t. Maybe it has to do with being able to assume the OP was exposed within a few months? I wonder. Of course, it’s possible the OP has been positive for years if she hasn’t had a test in years.

@JLeslie I get skin tested every summer. This past summer was clean. The person I was with is active TB. It is assumed it was contracted while traveling in China for work.

Yes, I am afraid, and yes, I have a million questions. Not all of them medical. Seems I have some time to do some research. I worry, for example, that time off from work will cause me to lose my job, and subsequently, my insurance… Which is critical right now. The social stigma… Do I have HIPAA rights with TB, or will the health department contact everyone I know? So many thoughts.

@AdventureElephants Was the person coughing? Had a fever? Obviously sick? I’m just curious if he/she was already visibly sick. Not that you would know it was TB, it could seem like a bad flu or something similar.

If you’re tested every year it’s likely it was your vacation. But, if you are tested every year I assume you are around high risk people. Most people go through 20,30,50 years never getting tested. Healthcare, childcare, working with the homeless, drug addicts, those jobs people get tested regularly and some others.

There are free services from your Health Dept. when confronted with this.
What stigma? In this mobile world? One can be in contact with someone who has far worse illnesses, in everyday life. Good grief- use a shopping cart, open a door, etc. You’ll be fine. Relax and stop making yourself worse with worry.
If they ask you for a list of people you have been around, sit and write a list while at home. You need to give them that info, if asked. Think hard.
Ask HD about contacting job for situation. They may be able to help keep the job.
Instead of making yourself sick with worry, go talk to those who work with this. Call them and talk. Ask them common questions.
If you know someone close with this, let the HD know please. Infants with a rough start, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems do not deserve to be exposed. For any reason. This does make a big difference in their lives.

http://www.cdc.gov/tb/

I don’t think you have to worry about any stigma. I know so many people positive for exposure, and also two people who had active TB. I don’t think people even bother to mention it. It’s not like AIDS or herpes.

@Rarebear I already gave the CDC link. :)

@msh The HD contacted me. I didn’t randomly decide to go get tested. Just had my second Quantiferon blood draw this morning, and have an appt with a TB specialist tomorrow.
Hopefully the second blood draw comes back negative and it’s all just a big misunderstanding.
I feel like a hypochondriac now. I’m overanalyzing my breathing, if I cough because of a tickle in my throat I’m convinced that X-ray is going to be terrible, etc. I wish the next 24 hours would go by faster.
I haven’t bothered to ask HD a million questions because I don’t want to over react if it’s latent TB. Everything I’ve read and you have said says that latent TB isn’t contagious, so I’m holding on to that.

I watched Tombstone this morning. Doc Holiday looks like shit.

@AdventureElephants The chances you will get sick are low. The statistics are on your side. I think it’s something like less than 10% of infected people actually develop the disease. Probably, a reasonable portion of the people who do get sick were not healthy to begin with, or had weak immune systems. You said your very healthy, so that improves your chances of a negative X-ray.

Did they already start you on antibiotics? Or, they are waiting for a positive X-ray? I realize I’m not clear by what you wrote.

Don’t get terrified about the antibiotics. If you do have to take them, many people have to take very long term antibiotics. I really think your X-ray will be negative.

@JLeslie The antibiotics are contraindicated to the treatment of an active TB, so they have told me that I will start them when the X-ray is clear. The reason for the antibiotic treatment they have set out is apparently the high number of antibodies resulted in the first blood draw. Hopefully the second draw changes everything.

I don’t want to stop drinking for 9 months. I guess I can pretend it’s an artistic tribute to pregnant women.

@AdventureElephants – how did it go? Did you go in today?
OK, your tribute- good idea! (you made me laugh) uhm… Food coloring in water, squint and pretend your drinking whatever you wish!
Yep, Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) made it all look really, really nasty. Don’t take it to heart. The people around him never did develop TB in real life! ( he was my fav…)
If you are bored, and taking time away from your conscientious tribute, just make a list of the top 20 people that you could/would share this with. And how.
I always thought of licking their keyboards at work. It could’ve worked! Then I found out it wouldn’t have made a difference for me. I was bummed. But it probably would’ve tasted like metallic dirt. Or worse! Euw! I did not consider the taste. Euw.
Sooo, you’ll have to come up with a viable sharing experience. Be as disgusting as you wish…
Oo-oo- lemme know if it works! :D Hang in there~

If drinking is your biggest concern, possibly the silver lining if you have to take the drugs is you won’t be able to drink.

@JLeslie There is a big space between an alcoholic and a tee-totaler. I enjoy myself sometimes, and I’m not looking forward to certain annual social events totally sober. Don’t judge.

And for the record, there is a long list of things I am worried about, both major and minor, serious and stupid.

I’m not judging. I wasn’t saying you’re an alcoholic.

Was the X-ray negative?

The X-ray is scheduled for Monday. I am quarantined until business as usual in the world. My house is getting so clean.

Lol. You must be going stir crazy. The waiting is horrible. Gawd, who would ever guess a tryst would get you in this situation? Chlamydia maybe, but TB? Sucks.

Haha, at least I could go to work with chlamydia. I’m still trying to come up with a nice excuse for them. I’m going to have to kill off an imaginary relative… Or my granny, again.

Won’t the doctor supervising the case give you a sick note for work?

You could ask a Q if someone found out a coworker or friend was positive for a TB test, but not sick with it, would they be nervous.