Q:

My brother tested positive for TB this morning. I was told that my family now has to be checked too. I got tested last year when I entered college, and tested negative. Do I need to be tested again?

 

A:

If you have been told that your brother has active tuberculosis (symptoms of cough, fever, weight loss) with a chest xray that is positive for tuberculosis like infiltrates and a positive sputum test for tuberculosis bacteria, then yes, you need to be checked again as you could have been exposed since you last tested negative. It can take 8-10 weeks from exposure to a case of active tuberculosis for your skin test to convert to positive so if you had exposure to your brother since your negative skin test last fall, you should be retested.

If your brother just has a positive skin test for TB, without symptoms, without a chest xray with positive findings of TB infection and without a positive sputum test, then your skin test reading from last fall should be sufficient to demonstrate you have not been exposed.

~The Doc