# Why do I have to get so many Tuberculosis skin tests? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-get-so-many-tuberculosis-skin-tests/246147 "2004-05-20T07:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-get-so-many-tuberculosis-skin-tests/246147/21 "2004-05-21T21:17:31Z")
> [@Roland Deschain](#): > > I’m not saying that TB is not an issue, but so are the other diseases such as MERSA, and Hep B which are not typically tested for. Also, between school, the volunteer fire dept, and my two part time jobs I’ve been tested four times in the last six months (no one would except anyone elses test). I’m starting to worry that the “test” might make me test positive in and off itself (through repeated antigenic sensitization). It just seems a little out of proportion for a disease that less than two hundred people in Indiana get each year. Fine, let me explain it this way then: You cannot get HepB, HepC, HIV, etc. by sitting in the same room with an infected person. You potentially can with tuberculosis. I would wager that many, **many** more people would get TB in Indiana (and elsewhere) if hospital staff were not regularly tested for TB. As for testing staff for HepB, HepC, HIV, etc., you should know that you’re supposed to always treat **all** blood as being potentially infectious. If possible contamination occurs (whether patient to staff, or staff to patient), that’s when you test. These incidents happen **far** less frequently than just being in the room with someone else, naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-get-so-many-tuberculosis-skin-tests/246147/22 "2004-05-22T00:28:27Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > At our hospital, there are groups tested every 6 months, inhalation therapists and people working with AIDS patients. Everyone else is either yearly or every two years. I don’t believe all areas in the US require that frequency of testing in those circumstances, but I certainly can understand it if TB is becoming even more common in that area. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Deschain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@Roland\_Deschain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Deschain)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-get-so-many-tuberculosis-skin-tests/246147/23 "2004-06-11T22:36:06Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I don’t believe all areas in the US require that frequency of testing in those circumstances, but I certainly can understand it if TB is becoming even more common in that area. By the way I just started working at an additional home health care agency that is requiring that I have yet another Tuberculin Skin Test. I actually, the Harrison’s articles on TB skin tests last week and came up with the following questions: 1. Is it possible to develop a positive reaction from having too many skin tests (thus sensitizing your immune system to the TB antigens)? 2. I actually, read an opinion that stated that mortality was higher for “all causes of death” in people who tested negative on TB skin tests. How could this be? Are they perhaps referencing studies conducted in areas of the world where most people have been exposed (and thus testing negative reflects a decreased immune system?) . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-get-so-many-tuberculosis-skin-tests/246147.md?page=1)