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I Am 26 Yrs Old And Have A Positive PPD Skin Test. If All Three AFB Return Negative Does This Mean That I Have Latent TB ?
Hi Im 26 years old and have a positive PPD skin test (bigger than my previous ppd skin test last year). Chest x ray is normal. Awaiting sputum AFB results at the moment. If all three AFB return negative does this mean that I have latent TB? I also have cough but at the same time I have allergic rhinitis . Last June, I took the skin test and was tested positive, chest xray was normal. Doctor prescribed rifampicin for 6 months. Could it be possible that I have active TB? I m not experiencing any other symptoms - no fever , no chills, no weight loss
Fri, 15 Apr 2011
Hi;
welcome to HealthcareMagic
The symptoms of chest TB are low grade fever;mainly evening fever;cough more than 15 days.When investigation is done Along with PPD other investigations should also be abnormal like ESR is very high;chest shows a hazy opacity etc.PPD is not the confirmatory test it is just a supportive test along with the symptoms & abnormal other investigations.If you need to confirm that you have no TB then get a Immunology test IgG/IgM or TB GOLD test it will give confirmation about Active or latent TB.
Thanks
welcome to HealthcareMagic
The symptoms of chest TB are low grade fever;mainly evening fever;cough more than 15 days.When investigation is done Along with PPD other investigations should also be abnormal like ESR is very high;chest shows a hazy opacity etc.PPD is not the confirmatory test it is just a supportive test along with the symptoms & abnormal other investigations.If you need to confirm that you have no TB then get a Immunology test IgG/IgM or TB GOLD test it will give confirmation about Active or latent TB.
Thanks
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