Mantoux test

[Leonard]

what is Mantoux test? Is it an injection or wat?
The form indicates that it is mandatory but the doctor dont require me to do this test.
So, anyone who has done medical check-up, are u experiencing the same situation? Help me, plz. Thanks in advance. :?

[evan89]

what is Mantoux test? Is it an injection or wat?
The form indicates that it is mandatory but the doctor dont require me to do this test.
So, anyone who has done medical check-up, are u experiencing the same situation? Help me, plz. Thanks in advance. :?

u shuld ask from the doctor n confirm again
the test is like dis
the nurse will inject something(i dunno wat is tat) to ur left arm
den after 3 day u must go back to hospital 2 check for the result

[THREEPOINTsix]

ah, that test. its for TB if im not mistaken. a nurse or a doctor will inject a small dosage of something onto the surface of your skin and its gonna hurt real bad for a few seconds. then a few days (2 or 3) later, yud have to come back and he/she will measure that "something" like a red bump or sumthin :-) Good Luck!

[youngyew]

Basically the nurse / doctor will inject some purified proteins from the TB bacteria into your skin. It's not very painful as far as I remember. 2 or 3 days later you will have a circle of hardened area with redness, and the doctor will interpret the result by measuring the diameter of the hardened area.

If you are having / had TB in the past / BCG vaccine in the past, you will get a fairly large circle.

[maxx]

i think Wikipedia explains all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantoux_test

i get my results last week.. 4mm.....

[pangping1510]

haha. basically youngyew explains it all. mine was 21mm i think. XD

[dejected]

wah! mine only 3mm is that good or bad?

[livern]

ahhah.. i went last yesterday to ask about it, but the doctor say i no need to do wor... he said not necessary. i dunno what to do.... do i really need to do it??

[capablanca]

Tell the doctor it is an requirement. And dejcted, as long as you have been vaccinated before and have a ring then, it is ok.

[Kevin89]

ahhah.. i went last yesterday to ask about it, but the doctor say i no need to do wor... he said not necessary. i dunno what to do.... do i really need to do it??
I think you better ask the doctor to do, just said jpa want the result (since the form got say all the test in the form is mandatory).

[livern]

Tell the doctor it is an requirement. And dejcted, as long as you have been vaccinated before and have a ring then, it is ok.
u mean the BCG that we got in standard 6? that was supposed to battle TB also rite?

[youngyew]

There are two threads about Mantoux test in ReCom now... I just posted the general information about the test in the other thread, and attached below is a copy of what I wrote:
Eerm. Mantoux test is not a good measure in Malaysia. There are a few circumstances under which you get a positive result (a circle of more than 10mm):

1. You had TB infection in the past.
2. You have TB infection now.
3. You had BCG vaccination in the past.

But it's not an accurate test, and even if you had BCG vaccination in the past, you may or may not get a positive result.

The only thing doctor can be pretty confident is: if the result is negative, you most likely are not infected with TB. That's the only useful interpretation of Mantoux test in Malaysia. In fact a chest x-ray is a better tool to diagnose and screen for TB. That's why they always ask for chest x-ray when you apply for visa.

Don't be afraid, it's just a mosquito bite. Smile And even if anyone happens to have TB, it's a very curable disease.
By the way, BCG is not a good TB vaccine. It's far from being 100% effective in preventing TB, in fact in some places it's 0% effective. BCG has only been proved to be fairly effective in preventing some serious consequences of TB if you are infected (to be precise, meningitis and systemic spread, both of which are dangerous).

I think the main purpose of the Mantoux test is to rule out TB infection. If you get a negative result, then the doctor can be very confident that you don't have TB. But if you get a "slightly" positive result, it doesn't really prove anything, because it could be due to either the BCG vaccine or TB. The doctor may investigate further, for instance look at your chest x-ray to determine whether you really have TB.


p/s: Yup, BCG is the mandatory vaccination we had during standard 6.

[livern]

ahhhh... so in other words, i have to do it la... OK! i go back to the hospital with a parang and demand tat they do it for me!! hahahaha!

[youngyew]

Haha if JPA says must do then just do it. :D

But yeah, Mantoux test is a tricky thing in Malaysia. In some countries like US and Australia, Mantoux test is much more useful. In those countries, BCG is not a mandatory vaccination, so if you have a positive mantoux test and had not had BCG in the past, it means you have TB infection.

[JetLee0510]

Haha if JPA says must do then just do it. :D

But yeah, Mantoux test is a tricky thing in Malaysia. In some countries like US and Australia, Mantoux test is much more useful. In those countries, BCG is not a mandatory vaccination, so if you have a positive mantoux test and had not had BCG in the past, it means you have TB infection. oic.. so mantoux test isnt tat accurate in Msia bcoz everyone here did BCG vaccination.. I read the result n they stated I did twice BCG vaccination.. and I gt 13mm for my result.. they I refer to the doctor, and he said it's okay..

thx youngyew for ur info ~

[dnsz89]

the nurse squeezed the reddish swollen area and wrote 0 mm. :lol:

[JetLee0510]

the nurse squeezed the reddish swollen area and wrote 0 mm. :lol: ah huh.. ? r u kidding..? ur body very very weak..?

[maxx]

the nurse squeezed the reddish swollen area and wrote 0 mm. :lol: ah huh.. ? r u kidding..? ur body very very weak..?
haha.. isn't it mean good??

[capablanca]

the nurse squeezed the reddish swollen area and wrote 0 mm. :lol:

This means you never encounter the TB antigen before and that you have never gotten any TB nor has any antibody against it as well.

[youngyew]

the nurse squeezed the reddish swollen area and wrote 0 mm. :lol:

This means you never encounter the TB antigen before and that you have never gotten any TB nor has any antibody against it as well.
Or, the other rare cause is, your body encountered TB antigen before but is unable to mount immune response (including antibody response) to it. But that is quite rare and should not be the case

[lambert]

wah...i oso got 0mm wor...the nurse told me very normal...no nid to worry wor...my doc oso says similar thing...then should i worry abt my body have no antibody against tb??or maybe i will get tb more easily than ppl who have readings such as 3mm or 21mm??

[happyhappy]

I am facing a difficult situation..... I did my medical checkup at private clinic. The doctor told me no need to do mantoux test since already got the X-ray report...

I phoned jpa after that....

The person who answer the phone told me that jpa will accept anything the doctor says... (Kita terima apa saja doctor itu tulis)

The funny thing is... what if the doctor wrote there in my report i am HIV positive? Will they "terima saja"?

And what about my mantoux test? Really no need to do meh?

[evening_go_jogging]

the bigger the diameter, does it mean that we have better immunity against TB?
or the other way round?

[youngyew]

Mantoux test can only rule out TB, it can't really rule in TB in Malaysia. In other words, if you have a small diameter, the doctor would be happy to tell you that "yeah we are 99.9% sure you don't have TB"; but if you have a diameter of, say, 12mm, the doctors can't really say whether you have TB or not, from the test alone. But if you have not had any TB symptoms before, the 12mm is likely due to your BCG vaccine, and it's a benign thing, not a disease.

Basically, have confidence in what your doctors say. They should be experienced enough to make a good interpretation of the mantoux test. :)

And if you guys read what I wrote earlier in this thread, Mantoux test is not an accurate measure of TB immunity. You can read up wikipedia for more information, but basically, for Malaysia and for most people:

You would be more than 10mm if:
- you have had BCG vaccine before OR
- you are having TB disease currently OR
- you had TB in the past

You would be less than 10mm if:
- You haven't had TB OR
- You had TB but your immune system, for some reasons, doesn't show a response. But this is rare, and would happen to only like one in every few hundred thousands of people.

If it seems confusing, it really is. :P Mantoux test result is an interplay between TB infection and BCG vaccine, and that's what make it so hard to interpret for most of us.

[capablanca]

I am facing a difficult situation..... I did my medical checkup at private clinic. The doctor told me no need to do mantoux test since already got the X-ray report...

I phoned jpa after that....

The person who answer the phone told me that jpa will accept anything the doctor says... (Kita terima apa saja doctor itu tulis)

The funny thing is... what if the doctor wrote there in my report i am HIV positive? Will they "terima saja"?

And what about my mantoux test? Really no need to do meh?

The x-ray check for TB through the presence of nodes which can be cause by TB. If yours is clean, then ok.

[capablanca]

the bigger the diameter, does it mean that we have better immunity against TB?
or the other way round?

No difference actually.