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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Does A Positive TB Skin Test Mean?

Hi Dr Grief,i am from Philippines and i got my Tb skin test check two days ago and its showed that its positive, what is that mean?i dont have any symtoms of having Tb..i have a medical exam in philippines before i came here in usa and everything is good..i also have an chest xray 3 years ago.and some vaccine
Tue, 3 Jun 2014
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hey dear as you are not having any symptoms you need not to worry about.
The positive skin TB test does not always means a disease.

The positive TB test indicates that you might have had infection with TB bacilli which does not mean you have suffered the disease from it.
Having TB infection & having TB disease are two different entities.
Furthermore occasionally few people who has been vaccinated with BCG vaccination might show positive re-activity to the test.

The results of the positive TT test should always be correlated with the symptoms. ( persistent non responsive cough with expectoration more than 3 weeks duration, weight loss, fever, difficulty in breathing Etc )

So considering your case you need not to worry about.
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What Does A Positive TB Skin Test Mean?

Hey dear as you are not having any symptoms you need not to worry about. The positive skin TB test does not always means a disease. The positive TB test indicates that you might have had infection with TB bacilli which does not mean you have suffered the disease from it. Having TB infection & having TB disease are two different entities. Furthermore occasionally few people who has been vaccinated with BCG vaccination might show positive re-activity to the test. The results of the positive TT test should always be correlated with the symptoms. ( persistent non responsive cough with expectoration more than 3 weeks duration, weight loss, fever, difficulty in breathing Etc ) So considering your case you need not to worry about.