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Is the PPD skin test (for tuburcolosis) a vaccine?



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amother
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Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 10:50 am
Can I skip it? How important is it?
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Stars




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 10:52 am
As far as I know it's a skin test. Not a vaccine. Did your employer request it?
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Rutabaga




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 10:56 am
It's not a vaccine. It's a test to see if you have tuberculosis. You need to get tested if you have been exposed or if you work in healthcare.

http://www.healthline.com/heal.....view1
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amother
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Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 10:56 am
Stars wrote:
As far as I know it's a skin test. Not a vaccine. Did your employer request it?


No. On my childs school registration form it says that its recommend that every child 'should' have the test done. Can I skip it? Im not excited about giving any unnecessary 'needles'.
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Stars




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 10:57 am
Ask your school. I've never been asked to give it to my child, only been required by certain employers to take it myself.
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yOungM0mmy




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 11:02 am
It checks if you have immunity, so if you do, you dont need to have an unnecessary vaccine.
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water_bear88




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 11:06 am
AFAIK there is no effective vaccine for TB. Why are they testing? Is there a resurgence in your area?
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amother
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Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 11:15 am
water_bear88 wrote:
AFAIK there is no effective vaccine for TB. Why are they testing? Is there a resurgence in your area?


Im in NY. No resurgance
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nursemomma




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 11:18 am
It is not a vaccine at all. It is merely a skin test for TB. If there is a reaction, that means the person may have been exposed to TB, and have active or inactive infection.
My pediatrician does it yearly, and it is mandated for childcare and healthcare workers.
TB is infectious through airborne particles from an infected person. You can technically be exposed to it anywhere- for ex: if you use public transportation.
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 11:29 am
This test shows if you have been exposed to TB. It is not routinely required for the schools we have used nor is it routinely recommended by our mainstream ped, but it is occasionally required for programs at the HS/college level. When a school for had a spot for it on the health form, the pediatrician just wrote "not done" or something like that. Some work environments require annual testing (for adults) if exposure is likely, such as in health care.
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amother
Black


 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:06 pm
It is really important! It is not a vaccine, just a skin test for immunity. The reason it's so important is that TB is not really curable, but it is completely prevantable if caught early before symptoms appear. The one little needle prick is so much better than a possibly (short) lifetime of severe health problems. And even if yo uthink you had no opportunity to be exposed, you never know. My friend had a positive TB test when we were in elementary and there was no known exposure, and thank G-d they detected it then, because they were able to give her medication and she never developed TB and was been healthy since.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:13 pm
There is a vaccine for TB; everyone born in non-Western countries received it.

OP, it's just a skin test, absolutely nothing to be afraid of.
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water_bear88




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:28 pm
sequoia wrote:
There is a vaccine for TB; everyone born in non-Western countries received it.

OP, it's just a skin test, absolutely nothing to be afraid of.


I agree on the skin test being NBD. From what I've read the vaccine is pretty effective at preventing the worst complications of the disease but not transmission. Like the polio shot as opposed to the oral drops, if I understood what I read.
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JAWSCIENCE




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:39 pm
There is a vaccine for tb called bcg. It is given In many countries where tb is endemic. It mostly protects children from disseminated and severe disease but it does not protect against respiratory tb very well.

The skin test is not a vaccine. It is a test to see if your immune system reacts to products of tb indicating you have Been exposed and are carrying a hidden infection which could resurface at any point unless you are treated. The skin test is also positive in people who have received the Bcg vaccine. There is a blood test to see if you are carrying a hidden infection as well. This is preferable for people who have weakened immune systems or who have received bcg as it is more easily Interpeted than the skin tests for those patients.

In NY most pediatricians will do a yearly screen for tuberculosis by asking several questions. If your answers determine you are at higher risk then they will select either the skin or blood test. As far as I know NY public schools require the yearly questionnaire but not test unless you were determined to be at risk.

Health care workers, people living in or working in a prison or a shelter, people who have travelled to an endemic area and people who have been in close contact with someone who has tb need the test.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:48 pm
It's also a pain in the neck if you have received the vaccine (because you were born in the USSR or any number of other countries) and you wanna work with kids in any capacity. As I discovered.
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water_bear88




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:53 pm
JAWSCIENCE wrote:
There is a vaccine for tb called bcg. It is given In many countries where tb is endemic. It mostly protects children from disseminated and severe disease but it does not protect against respiratory tb very well.

The skin test is not a vaccine. It is a test to see if your immune system reacts to products of tb indicating you have Been exposed and are carrying a hidden infection which could resurface at any point unless you are treated. The skin test is also positive in people who have received the Bcg vaccine. There is a blood test to see if you are carrying a hidden infection as well. This is preferable for people who have weakened immune systems or who have received bcg as it is more easily Interpeted than the skin tests for those patients.

In NY most pediatricians will do a yearly screen for tuberculosis by asking several questions. If your answers determine you are at higher risk then they will select either the skin or blood test. As far as I know NY public schools require the yearly questionnaire but not test unless you were determined to be at risk.

Health care workers, people living in or working in a prison or a shelter, people who have travelled to an endemic area and people who have been in close contact with someone who has tb need the test.

Thanks for the explanation! Regarding the bolded, how on earth do they do that if it's someone whose job brings them into close contact with a lot of people or someone who takes crowded public transportation regularly?
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amother
Babypink


 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 1:53 pm
sequoia wrote:
It's also a pain in the neck if you have received the vaccine (because you were born in the USSR or any number of other countries) and you wanna work with kids in any capacity. As I discovered.


Since I was born here I never had a problem with the ppd but I have Russian friends inhealth care who always test positive for ppd, but they just had to get a chest X-ray to get cleared to work.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Apr 20 2017, 9:19 pm
amother wrote:
Since I was born here I never had a problem with the ppd but I have Russian friends inhealth care who always test positive for ppd, but they just had to get a chest X-ray to get cleared to work.


Yeah... no. Not "just." It's radiation. Don't you understand that?

Fortunately, there is also a blood test.
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