TB skin test positive Please help :(

[Sam and Abby 0]

Hi everyone

Just when i thought I was all done. I got an RFE because the Knightsbridge doctors lied to me about having my vaccinations at my GP. So I've had to pay another $200 for another medical so he can sign my immunization records.

Long story short, I had my TB skin test which has come up as positive as I had my TB shot at high school with the rest of England. I'm now left with the following problem,Another chest xray which will come back negative like the last one but................

The Dr's here then assume that I must have latent TB (Dormant TB) and will give me a 9 month course of medication to take.

Has anyone else come face to face with this issue? I'm pretty freaked out about all this, just when I thought I'd be done finally with this whole visa issue, something else pops up.

Please help me out............

[Barca 10]

Hi everyone

Just when i thought I was all done. I got an RFE because the Knightsbridge doctors lied to me about having my vaccinations at my GP. So I've had to pay another $200 for another medical so he can sign my immunization records.

Long story short, I had my TB skin test which has come up as positive as I had my TB shot at high school with the rest of England. I'm now left with the following problem,Another chest xray which will come back negative like the last one but................

The Dr's here then assume that I must have latent TB (Dormant TB) and will give me a 9 month course of medication to take.

Has anyone else come face to face with this issue? I'm pretty freaked out about all this, just when I thought I'd be done finally with this whole visa issue, something else pops up.

Please help me out............

I had a similar situation but I was asked to go a local health office that did offer me the medication that I gently denied and they provided me with a letter stating that, no issues!

[Dawny&Tommy 0]

My test came back positive too, when I had a medical here in the USA. They gave me a chest X-ray which came back all clear. I found out later on at an Orientation/health and safety meeting, totally by accident when someone else asked about it, that because I had had a BCG vaccine when I was at school, any TB skin test I had in the future would always come back positive.

Dawn.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Dawny&Tommy

[Visitor 90]

If you have to pay for another physical anyway why don't you change your doctor and get a second opinion about what's going on. I certainly wouldn't go onto a 9 month course of medicine without getting a second opinion and I would definitely want to know the side effects of such medication if I had to take it. Good luck. Hope it all works out OK.

[Iyawo Ijebu 157]

My test came back positive too, when I had a medical here in the USA. They gave me a chest X-ray which came back all clear. I found out later on at an Orientation/health and safety meeting, totally by accident when someone else asked about it, that because I had had a BCG when I was at school, any TB skin test I had in the future would always come back positive.

Dawn.

Right. Most Nigerians of my age group here in the USA tests false postitive for TB. As a healthcare IT Consultant I have to do a TB test each time I renew my contract so I don't even bother with the injection test and move straight to the XRay test. I should be able to glow in the dark soon

Edited May 3, 2012 by Iyawo Ijebu

[Dana-Mića 51]

My test came back positive too, when I had a medical here in the USA. They gave me a chest X-ray which came back all clear. I found out later on at an Orientation/health and safety meeting, totally by accident when someone else asked about it, that because I had had a BCG vaccine when I was at school, any TB skin test I had in the future would always come back positive.

Dawn.

Its true it happens to quite a large number of people. My sisters test always comes positive and i mean all the time.

[Barca 10]

yes I remember more now. Once I was referred to the local health center and they gave me the letter to give to the doctor's office where I had my physical. The letter said that I probably had BCG vaccine when I was young and that I denied the treatment as well. I gave the letter to the doctor and was cleared after that! I didn't have to pay for another physical though.

[DaveE 178]

My stepdaughter (K2), skin tested positive at her physical in Manila. Mom was negative. There must have been an annotaton somewhere in her records because at POE they told her mom that she, (the daughter) needed to report to the local healh department when she got to her destination.

They must have notified the state of Georgia because we got a letter from the state health department about two weeks after they arrived. We set up an appointment with the local office (about 1/4 mile from where we live). The gave her a chest X-Ray which was negative, but said she did have latent TB. She was put on a regiman of isoniazid and a some vitamins for 9 months. Every month I had to take her to the health department for a mini-physical, blood work and receive her next months pills, (no cost). She finished about a year ago.

When complete she was issued a letter that basically said she never has to take the skin test again because it will always be positive.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi everyone

Just when i thought I was all done. I got an RFE because the Knightsbridge doctors lied to me about having my vaccinations at my GP. So I've had to pay another $200 for another medical so he can sign my immunization records.

Long story short, I had my TB skin test which has come up as positive as I had my TB shot at high school with the rest of England. I'm now left with the following problem,Another chest xray which will come back negative like the last one but................

The Dr's here then assume that I must have latent TB (Dormant TB) and will give me a 9 month course of medication to take.

Has anyone else come face to face with this issue? I'm pretty freaked out about all this, just when I thought I'd be done finally with this whole visa issue, something else pops up.

Please help me out............

"just when I thought I'd be done finally with this whole visa issue, something else pops up." You were done with the visa in June 2011. This is a greencard issue.

Concerning Knightsbridge--I'm wondering what lie they told you? They aren't US immigration officials and don't really know the adjustment of status procedures. They only know what shots you have proof of so they can write them on your form. And they cleared you of TB, based on an x-ray, in the written report that's in your medical file. If you apply for AOS within 1 year of that medical exam, then you don't need a TB skin test or another medical exam. USCIS gets that clearance info from your file. You would need a civil surgeon's signature saying you have met the immunization requirements if you got additional shots after the Knightsbridge exam.

Concerning your civil surgeon: They don't fully understand that the USCIS is okay with the medical clearance given K1s at their exam abroad. For most of their "greencard" patients, it's probably the first medical exam and the CS is following the procedure for a first time exam. K1s are a small minority of the general AOS group. The TB test is not an immunization. You didn't need it for USCIS because they have a report already saying you don't have TB (as long as that report is less than a year old). Have you thought of contacting a different CS? Or you can pay for another chest x-ray and clear yourself a second time. Even if you fall into their false assumption that you need a course of TB medication, they don't come to your home and watch you swallow the pill. Throw the meds out. I would get another CS if this one actually "assumes" you need meds without checking you with an x-ray.

[Sam and Abby 0]

Well Knightsbridge told me that I could have my vaccinations at my go on the nhs as long as I provided a letter from my go confirming this.

Uscis said this isn't enough.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Well Knightsbridge told me that I could have my vaccinations at my go on the nhs as long as I provided a letter from my go confirming this.

Uscis said this isn't enough.

Like I said Knightsbridge doesn't understand the process. Yes you can get a K1 visa even with zero immunizations. So if you wanted to get shots at NHS, they still have to be on a US government official form and signed by a US government approved doctor.

Options--

1. Get the shots at NHS before the medical exam. Knightsbridge copies them all onto form DS-3025. Bam! You're cleared all the way through AOS.
   
2. Get the shots at NHS after medical exam (to save money), but tell Knightsbridge to hold your report until that shot info is faxed to them. Knightsbridge copies them all onto form DS-3025. Bam! You're cleared all the way through AOS.
   
3. Get the shots at NHS after medical exam (to save money). They have to be signed off on by US approved doctor. Go to US civil surgeon taking the DS-3025, any shot records from NHS, or some shot record you got at Wal-mart. The CS will copy all the shots from all your bits of paper onto the approved form (I-693) and sign off. (Spend extra money for this...sometimes a lot.)

Sounds simple, but the problem is civil surgeons don't always understand the K1 special provisions of getting to count their overseas medical clearance. It's on about page 4 of the I-693 instructions. They can charge you anything they want. They can say I won't do just the immunization copying. They can insist on any terms because they are in private practice and don't have to accept you as a patient. You also don't have to accept their terms or prices and can choose another CS. There is a thread going called "Civil Surgeons who don't rip you off" where people report the names of ones they found who did only the immunization part and for a fair price.

Edit to add: Another Brit recently had the same problem and summed up going to get free shots at NHS after the medical exam was "penny wise and pound foolish".

Edited May 4, 2012 by Nich-Nick

[Fight for Love 98]

Nothing to worry about....usually most 3rd world country is positive thru skin. But x-ray is negative. Way back 1996 before I immigrate in the US, I am also positive in skin (tb shot) but on the x-ray I was negative...I never had any problem...up to now I’m still come out positive in skin tb test and I never had or take any medication. But I am healthy.

just think POSITIVE...i mean negative in your result ehehe :thumbs: