Page 201 - fourth year book

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (T.B)

1- Medical history

 Presence of TB Symptoms; if so, for how long.

 known exposure to a person with infectious TB disease
 Previous diagnosis in the past with LTBI or TB disease.

 Previous treatment regimen for TB disease was inadequate or poor
adherence practices of the patient
 Demographic factors (e.g., age, occupation, country of origin,

ethnicity, or racial group).

 Presence of underlying medical conditions, especially HIV infection
or diabetes.

2. Physical Examination
It cannot be used to confirm or rule out TB disease, but it can

provide valuable information about the patient’s overall condition,
inform the method of diagnosis, and reveal other factors that may affect
TB disease treatment, if diagnosed.

3. Test for M. Tuberculosis Infection

- A positive TB skin test or TB blood test only reveals that a person has
been infected with TB bacteria.

- It does not confirm whether the person has latent TB infection (LTBI)
or TB disease. However, a negative reaction to any of the tests does
NOT exclude the diagnosis of TB disease or LTBI.

A. Tuberculin Skin
Test(TST)

Indication:
o High risk Persons at high risk for TB disease (discussed above);

o Health care workers who are likely to be exposed to TB.
o Symptomatic Persons
o Having abnormal chest X-ray

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