Sputum Test

[Step29 15]

Hello. for those who undergo for sputum test- do you really have an issue with your lungs? or having cough before the interview? I will have my interview soon and I am a bit scared with the post i have read about those who undergo for sputum.

 

I dont smoke and drink so I am confident that i will not have any problems. Got any tips before you guys went for medical?

 

Thanks

 

[nelmagriffin 141]

Greetings!

Sending you a good vibes! You will be fine. NG

[Step29 15]

1 minute ago, nelmagriffin said:

Greetings!

Sending you a good vibes! You will be fine. NG

Thank you so much.. Gob bless.

[Hank_ 9,173]

2 hours ago, Step29 said:

Hello. for those who undergo for sputum test- do you really have an issue with your lungs? or having cough before the interview? I will have my interview soon and I am a bit scared with the post i have read about those who undergo for sputum.

 

I dont smoke and drink so I am confident that i will not have any problems. Got any tips before you guys went for medical?

 

Thanks

 

SPUTUM is decided by the doctor, if any scarring or shadows appear in the X-ray then most likely you will have to complete SPUTUM.

 

 

[Step29 15]

12 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

SPUTUM is decided by the doctor, if any scarring or shadows appear in the X-ray then most likely you will have to complete SPUTUM.

 

 

so i think it is best to have x-ray from another hospital a month before to make sure its fine?

[SteveInBostonI130 3,319]

33 minutes ago, Step29 said:

so i think it is best to have x-ray from another hospital a month before to make sure its fine?

The test is to either rule out or start treatment for TB.  At first an Xray of your lungs are examined.  If the doctor sees some signs that may indicate TB, they prescribe the SPUTUM test to confirm.

 

A month before will not help.  If I recall correctly, if you have TB the treatment is 6 months.  The first SPUTUM test to verify TB at the start, then treatments for it, then a SPUTUM test at the end to verify you are clear.

 

Just go get your exam and not worry prematurely.  If you have TB, you have it and the doctor will help you overcome it.  If you don't have TB, then that's it.

[payxibka 10,044]

50 minutes ago, Step29 said:

so i think it is best to have x-ray from another hospital a month before to make sure its fine?

Even if you do, it will change nothing.  SLEC decides everything 

[top_secret 2,071]

There are some somewhat dated statistics online for SLEC that seem to indicate that between 2007-2012 SLEC tested 231,818 Filipino Immigrants and detected 2,398 cases of actual TB.  But also found abnormal x-ray results in 31,597 Filipinos who went on to be found to have a negative sputum culture.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6390485/

So going by that, something like 15% of all Filipino Immigrants that go through SLEC are diagnosed with an irregular chest x-ray and sent for sputum testing. Of those sent for sputum testing, about 93% of them are a false alarm.

[Step29 15]

5 minutes ago, top_secret said:

There are some somewhat dated statistics online for SLEC that seem to indicate that between 2007-2012 SLEC tested 231,818 Filipino Immigrants and detected 2,398 cases of actual TB.  But also found abnormal x-ray results in 31,597 Filipinos who went on to be found to have a negative sputum culture.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6390485/

So going by that, something like 15% of all Filipino Immigrants that go through SLEC are diagnosed with an irregular chest x-ray and sent for sputum testing. Of those sent for sputum testing, about 93% of them are a false alarm.

This is what I am worried actually. I hope doctors will be honest atleast on their choosen field not only for the sake of earning. It will not be fair if the result are not 100% okay. I got worried because I am an ofw in middle east and my vacation in manila is limited. I pray and hope I will not face this problem soon. 

[assila 13]

10 hours ago, Step29 said:

Hello. for those who undergo for sputum test- do you really have an issue with your lungs? or having cough before the interview? I will have my interview soon and I am a bit scared with the post i have read about those who undergo for sputum.

 

I dont smoke and drink so I am confident that i will not have any problems. Got any tips before you guys went for medical?

 

Thanks

 

My mother went in with a tiny bit of congestion, then got hooked for the entire treatment, I think it was 3 injections - one every 2 weeks. She ended up just staying in Manila for the 6 weeks. My stepfather looked at the x-ray when they flagged her, and told them it was obviously clear congestion, not TB, but that didn't do any good. When she got to the USA, the doctor told her the same thing - it was obviously not TB. So, don't go there with any congestion, even mild. Also, maybe this is a story, but I've heard stay away from milk because it can cause congestion.

[Hank_ 9,173]

8 hours ago, Step29 said:

so i think it is best to have x-ray from another hospital a month before to make sure its fine?

Waste of time and money.    

[flicks1998 1,044]

4 hours ago, Step29 said:

This is what I am worried actually. I hope doctors will be honest atleast on their choosen field not only for the sake of earning. It will not be fair if the result are not 100% okay. I got worried because I am an ofw in middle east and my vacation in manila is limited. I pray and hope I will not face this problem soon. 

I wouldnt worry about it as there is nothing you can control or do about it.  Just proceed to your appointment as normal.  SLEC is very incompetent as well as corrupt.  Through the years, I had reported them to USEM, with documentation, that existed with SLEC but nothing was ever done.  There are threads about this through this Philippine section.  SLEC does other nationalities medical exams and the same kind of issues are found with them as well. 

 

Top_Secrets info is actually really good and confirms the "rumor" that 15-20% were failing their TB x-rays at SLEC.  Its not a rumor anymore.  93% seems like an extremely high false positive rate. It would be interesting to compare this to other medical system TB results (Makati Med, St Lukes, Asian Hospital, etc etc) and see if the % are the same.  

 

There are quite a few members here that have been flagged for TB, did the 8 week course, and then proceeded to the interview.  I dont know of anyone, either on this board, or during my time living in Manila where someone tested positive out of SLEC, although obviously there would be some. 

[RO_AH 1,615]

13 hours ago, Step29 said:

Hello. for those who undergo for sputum test- do you really have an issue with your lungs? or having cough before the interview? I will have my interview soon and I am a bit scared with the post i have read about those who undergo for sputum.

 

I don't smoke and drink so I am confident that i will not have any problems. Got any tips before you guys went for medical?

As others have said, this has nothing to do with the interview process. There is nothing that you can do until you have your x-ray during your exam and pray that they do not flag you for the sputum testing. If you are flagged for testing you will need to return to SLEC for 3 consecutive days where they will take a sample from you. Following that you need to wait 8 weeks to get your culture results. If they is negative (which seems to be the case 90% of the time) you may reschedule your interview appointment. If you end up being positive, you will have to go through the treatment process before you can schedule your interview.

 

I believe it is more to do with incompetence than corruption. You pay 1 fee that covers your medical exam whether you have to go through sputum or not. It actually costs them more money to go through sputum than if you don't, so they definately are not doing it to make more profit.

 

My wife does not smoke or drink either and is very healthy. She was still flagged for sputum testing. It was negative and she just recently had her interview.

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, RO_AH said:

As others have said, this has nothing to do with the interview process. There is nothing that you can do until you have your x-ray during your exam and pray that they do not flag you for the sputum testing. If you are flagged for testing you will need to return to SLEC for 3 consecutive days where they will take a sample from you. Following that you need to wait 8 weeks to get your culture results. If they is negative (which seems to be the case 90% of the time) you may reschedule your interview appointment. If you end up being positive, you will have to go through the treatment process before you can schedule your interview.

 

I believe it is more to do with incompetence than corruption. You pay 1 fee that covers your medical exam whether you have to go through sputum or not. It actually costs them more money to go through sputum than if you don't, so they definately are not doing it to make more profit.

 

My wife does not smoke or drink either and is very healthy. She was still flagged for sputum testing. It was negative and she just recently had her interview.

Actually my comment on corruption was for instances of known payouts to doctors to skip parts of the medical exam. This wouldn’t be in relation to the OP but what SLEC has been known to do in the past. A lot of that was reported to different embassies in the 2013-2018 time frame when we knew it was happening. The company I worked for had to get involved at one point as it was putting some of our employees in compromised positions and we were held responsible due to the various corruption acts.  All we could do was report it though. However nothing was ever done. Recommendations to change to a new medical center were also offered but that never happened either. 
 

You’re though on the incompetence. That’s why it would be interesting to compare to other medical centres who do TB test for normal patience in the Philippines. 

[Step29 15]

On 6/19/2021 at 2:59 AM, RO_AH said:

As others have said, this has nothing to do with the interview process. There is nothing that you can do until you have your x-ray during your exam and pray that they do not flag you for the sputum testing. If you are flagged for testing you will need to return to SLEC for 3 consecutive days where they will take a sample from you. Following that you need to wait 8 weeks to get your culture results. If they is negative (which seems to be the case 90% of the time) you may reschedule your interview appointment. If you end up being positive, you will have to go through the treatment process before you can schedule your interview.

 

I believe it is more to do with incompetence than corruption. You pay 1 fee that covers your medical exam whether you have to go through sputum or not. It actually costs them more money to go through sputum than if you don't, so they definately are not doing it to make more profit.

 

My wife does not smoke or drink either and is very healthy. She was still flagged for sputum testing. It was negative and she just recently had her interview.

Hello. yes, it will not affect the interview process however, i am working currently abroad and my vacation days will be limited. I hope il not be flagged for this sputum.