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  • #1

    2 TB tests?

    I recently was accepted to a second job that starts next week, so I've been running around filling out a ton of paperwork and getting a physical/TB test done.

    When they checked the TB test (negative) they asked me when I wanted to schedule my second one, because I apparently need 2. (I would have liked to know that earlier, but oh well...)

    Any ideas why they would want me to get 2 TB tests? Its one per forearm, and the test is the inject-the-stuff-under-the-skin variety. I will be asking them when I get the 2nd test, but I was wondering what ideas you all may have. (I'm in the US, if that changes anything.)
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  • #2
    Apparently the test may not be very accurate. Also, some of the new drug-resistant TB strains are VERY scary, so they're being extra cautious.

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    • #3
      Are you going to be working in healthcare?

      Two-step testing is sometimes used if you will be re-tested on a regular basis. This helps make sure that they know how you will react to the test, and eliminates false positives.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantoux...o-step_testing

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      • #4
        Quoth Raveni View Post
        Are you going to be working in healthcare?
        Sorta kinda. I'm going to be a receptionist at a drug/alcohol rehab center. Its run through the same company/core thing as the local hospital, so it would make sense to me that it's just something for all employees to do.

        They're paying for it, so it doesn't bother me much that they want to do two tests. And I'm definitely going to ask them about it when I get the second test (tomorrow).

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        • #5
          First thought was..Terabyte tests..wtf, test out a hard drive??
          In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
          She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

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          • #6
            That puts you with a demographic which doesn't get regular health care, and thus is more likely to become/be a TB pool. Resistant TB is a nasty problem in many parts of the world, and if they're planning on testing you regularly, I would consider that a Very Good Thing.

            BTW: thank you for doing one of the necessary/nasty jobs in society.
            Seshat's self-help guide:
            1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
            2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
            3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
            4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

            "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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            • #7
              Ahhh I remember the TB jab from school...it wasn't pleasant ^^;;

              A few weeks before we had the HEAF test done, a ring of six needle marks done with some kind of individual green stamper thing. School grapevine couldn't work out what the result (bumps, no bumps, bleeding bumps) meant...

              Then the jab. And a nice resulting scar. A friend of mine had some kind of nasty reaction - I remember our textiles teacher sending her to the nurse from our lesson after she took off her blazer and we could all see umm a nice big yellow stain on her blouse sleeve where the jab was... O.o She was fine afterwards.

              Housemate is terrified of needles and hasn't had the TB jab. I keep trying to figure out how I can persuade her to get it...
              "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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              • #8
                Quoth SongsOfDragons View Post
                Housemate is terrified of needles and hasn't had the TB jab. I keep trying to figure out how I can persuade her to get it...
                Booty-trapping a chair?
                I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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                • #9
                  Quoth dalesys View Post
                  Booty-trapping a chair?
                  She is giving me the glare of death as I type... XD
                  "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Quoth SongsOfDragons View Post
                    She is giving me the glare of death as I type... XD
                    I can feel the rays shooting out of my monitor!
                    I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                    Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                    Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      What I was told the reason for the double test was that the first one was a an exciter so that any latent TB would be found by the second one. They only need to do the double test the first time.
                      "Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears." – Rudyard Kipling

                      I don't have hot flashes. I have short, private vacations to the tropics.

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                      • #12
                        ugh.....the last time I needed a TB test was before going to college. The nurse warned me to look away since it involved injecting a bubble of fluid under the skin, and that the sight can be disturbing.

                        So I kept my head turned to the left and focused on the wall (she injected it in my right arm).....

                        ....and much to my embarassment....I fainted. No idea why....it didn't feel any more of less weird than any other injetion I've gotten. I did manage to warn the nurse that I was getting light-headed, so she was able to keep me from toppling off the exam table.

                        It was kinda a funny in restropect.

                        Nurse (just as I regained consciousness): I NEED DR. B IN HERE!!

                        The doctor came in and started putting the blood pressure cuff on me.

                        Dr: Didn't you warn him to look away??

                        Nurse: I did! And he didn't look!

                        Me (weakly): She did, and I didn't look. I dunno what happened.....
                        "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

                        RIP Plaidman.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Quoth midnightaurora View Post
                          Sorta kinda. I'm going to be a receptionist at a drug/alcohol rehab center. Its run through the same company/core thing as the local hospital, so it would make sense to me that it's just something for all employees to do.

                          They're paying for it, so it doesn't bother me much that they want to do two tests. And I'm definitely going to ask them about it when I get the second test (tomorrow).
                          Quoth pitmonkey View Post
                          What I was told the reason for the double test was that the first one was a an exciter so that any latent TB would be found by the second one. They only need to do the double test the first time.
                          Right! You're describing the two step TB test. Anyone who works in any health care related field where they come into contact with patients should be tested yearly for TB. As Seshat pointed out, substance abusers neglect their health, and TB is endemic in that population.

                          Many providers are moving to the two step TB, which is more accurate, because of this. I just found out my local hospital is now requiring it, so all our new students will have to get one. Unfortunately, they have to get theirs at their own expense unless they work for a health care provider. It costs between $25-$30 if you pay cash.
                          They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Panacea View Post
                            It costs between $25-$30 if you pay cash.
                            I'm famously poor (at least, famously so in this forum); and I'd scrape up that money to be tested for TB.

                            TB is NASTY, and even when the disease is cured, the lung-scarring it causes can't be. (Or so I understand.) And if you happen to catch the resistant form, they have to use 'we really don't want to use these' antibiotics, which themselves are nasty.
                            Seshat's self-help guide:
                            1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                            2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                            3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                            4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                            "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              I needed one for EMT school and since I had a record of it, I just get one done yearly now at the fire department. Nursing school also requires it. My current EMT job does not require a PPD.

                              Call around since the PPDs can vary from location to location. I have had one done at my doctor's office for 20 (my copay).

                              I think they prefer it done within one week of the first one.

                              I heard a rumor that a regulatory body was requiring hospitals in their state to do quantiferon gold blood draws (or whatever it is called) on some of their staff that were considered high risk like nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, etc.
                              Last edited by emt_cookies; 02-18-2012, 04:58 PM.

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