Key points
- Contact your health care provider if you think you have been exposed to someone with active TB disease, especially if you have symptoms.
- Talk to your health care provider about your TB risk, testing, and treatment options.
Why it's important
Starting a conversation with your health care provider is the first step to protecting your family, friends, and community from TB.
TB germs can live in your body for years without making you sick. This is called inactive TB or latent TB infection. People with inactive TB are infected with TB germs but they do not feel sick, do not have symptoms of TB disease, and cannot spread TB to others.
Without treatment, inactive TB can become active TB disease at any time and make you sick. Once inactive TB becomes active TB disease, TB can spread from person to person through the air.
It's important to talk to your health care provider or contact your health department if you think you have been exposed to someone with active TB disease, especially if you have symptoms. TB disease can be treated.
Even if you do not feel sick, it's important to talk to your health care provider if you have risk factors for TB. People with inactive TB can be treated to prevent active TB disease.
Topics to discuss
Discuss your risk
There are several risk factors for TB so it’s important to talk with your health care provider about your risk. Anyone can get TB, but you have a higher risk for TB if you:
- Recently spent time with someone who has active TB disease;
- Were born in or frequently travel to countries where TB is common, including some countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America;
- Live or used to live in large group settings where TB is more common, such as homeless shelters, prisons, or jails;
- Work in places where TB is more likely to spread, such as hospitals, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, and nursing homes; or
- Have a weaker immune system because of certain medications or health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, or HIV.
Understand the TB testing process
There are two types of tests for TB infection. Talk with your health care provider about which TB test is best for you.
TB blood test
The TB blood test is also called an interferon-gamma release assay or IGRA. The TB blood test measures how your immune system reacts to the germs that cause TB.
If you have ever received a vaccine for TB, your health care provider will recommend the TB blood test. Unlike the TB skin test, TB blood tests are not affected by the TB vaccine (BCG vaccine).
TB skin test
For the TB skin test, a health care provider uses a small needle to put some testing material under the skin. You will need to return to your health care provider in 2-3 days to see if there is a reaction.
Discuss your TB blood test or TB skin test results
If your TB blood test or TB skin test is positive, it means you have TB germs in your body. Your health care provider will do other tests to determine if you have inactive TB or active TB disease.
These tests may include a chest x-ray, and a test of the sputum (phlegm) you cough up.
Discuss treatment options
If you are diagnosed with inactive TB
If you are diagnosed with inactive TB, there are several short and convenient treatment options available that can help protect you from getting sick with active TB disease.
If you are diagnosed with active TB disease
If you have active TB disease, you can be treated with medicine. You will need to take and finish all of your TB medicine as directed by your health care provider. This is to help you feel better and prevent other people from getting sick. Talk to your health care provider about any problems that you have with your TB medicine.
Questions to ask your health care provider about your TB treatment
- Based on my lifestyle and personal health history, what treatment option do you recommend?
- How often do I need to take this medicine? And how long will I be on it?
- What are the instructions for taking this medicine?
- What are the side effects?
- What is the cost of the medicine? Will my insurance cover treatment?
- Are there any resources that can support me in my treatment plan?
Questions you may receive
Symptoms of active TB disease include:
- A cough that last 3 weeks or longer
- Chest pain
- Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm) from deep inside the lungs
- Weakness or fatigue
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Chills
- Fever
- Night sweats
Your health care provider will ask when you spent time with someone who has active TB disease. People with active TB disease are most likely to spread TB germs to people they spend time with every day, such as:
- Family members,
- Friends,
- Coworkers, or
- Schoolmates.
Your health care provider will ask about your risk factors for TB. People who were born in or frequently travel to countries where TB is more common including some countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have a higher risk of TB exposure.
Your health care provider will ask about your risk factors for TB. People who live or work in places with a higher risk for TB spread, such as hospitals, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, and nursing homes have a higher risk for TB.
Your health care provider will ask about your risk factors for TB. People who have a weaker immune system because of certain medications or health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, or HIV have a higher risk of developing active TB disease once infected.
Once you have a positive result for TB, even after you finish taking all of your TB medicine for inactive TB or TB disease, your TB blood test or TB skin test may still be positive. Tell your health care provider if you have had a positive TB blood test or skin test in the past, and whether or not you completed treatment.
Your health care provider may ask if you ever received a TB vaccine in the past. If you have, your health care provider will recommend the TB blood test. Unlike the TB skin test, TB blood tests are not affected by BCG vaccination.