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How do we test for whether a person has Tuberculosis or not?

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Some Doctor says that if you happen to be born from a third world country where pollution is high and the hygiene are lacking in public places, you are very likely to have tuberculosis running in your blood. Those are inactive tuberculosis and they do not cause a problem to a person unless that person has reached an age of 40+, when the immune system begins to weaken at that age. For anyone who doesn't know what a tuberculosis is, it is contagious infection that usually attacks the lungs. It can also spread to other parts of the body, like the brain and spine. A type of bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes it. My physicain had ordered a tuberculosis test for me and i am curious to know how the test is conducted before it actually happens to me. I wanted to volunteer to work with the local hospital without pay, but they said i had to get the tuberculosis test done through my physician and have the doctor transfer the results to them, before they can even consider using me as a hospital volunteer.

Tuberculosis test

asked in Edmundston by Amal Singh (170 points)

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2 Answers

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It is very true that people from third world country tend to have Tuberculosis but that's not to say that everyone in third world country has it. Some people whose immune system is strong will not carry the disease while some people whose immune system is weak could easily carry the disease and not know about it. Especially if you wanted to volunteer in a hospital environment, they would ask you to undergo a Tuberculosis Test to make sure that you don't have an active untreated Tuberculosis and then you could easily spread it to everyone working in the hospital. If you do have an inactive form of Tuberculosis, the hospital will allow you to volunteer work for them. 

During the Tuberculosis test, the hospital staff would inject a small amount of Tuberculosis Protein under the top layer of skin on your inner forearm. Then you may be asked to come back in two days time. If you have Tuberculosis, a firm red bump will show on the spot where the TB protein was injected. This will confirm whether you have Tuberculosis or not. However, this skin test will not tell if the Tuberculosis is active orr inactive in your body. The hospital staff will want you to go to your family physician and have him ordered a chest X-ray for you. It is only after going through an X-ray inspection then it can be determined if you have an active or inactive Tuberculosis infection.

Tuberculosis Skin Test

answered by amelia dawson (156 points)
0 votes
Watch video on "How to to test for the presence of Tuberculosis in a person, using the TB skin test method":

answered by Tuberculosis Skin Test

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