Freaking out about my PPD!

[Kuniklo]

I've never had a reaction to one before! It's been 24 hr and I have a raised, red lump. If I hold it up to the light I can see the borders the size of a quarter. It's not blistery-looking or a pustule, it kind of resembles a mosquito bite. It's harder and warmer than the surrounding skin but it's not "knotty."

I was wondering if anyone else has ever had a similar experience with their PPD? Obviously, there's nothing I can do until the nurse reads my results tomorrow, but I'm freaking out because clinicals start next week.

[casper1]

Years ago I had a positive reaction to a PPD. A large red bump appeared on my arm. I had not had any exposures so I was alarmed. The

employee health nurse asked me if I had been around any horses. I had My daughter had started horseback riding lessons and I was at stables several times a week. My positive reaction was contributed to my exposure to horses, I quess the she was right I have had many PPD since then and none of them has been positive.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Our infectious disease folks tell us that if you ride on public transportation or go to the mall, you've been exposed to TB and will convert. Not to worry. Chest xray from now on-- no more worries about whether someone knows how to place an intradermal injection properly!

Note: for full impact of this message, it should display in Comic Sans, green. Thank you.

[Rachel Ruiz]

I've never had tuberculosis in my life, but my TB tests always give a positive result. Therefore, I always had X-ray (with a negative result). However, not even a nurse except a health care provider, who gave me X-Ray could explain this: She asked me if I had a BBC shot when I was a child. Yes, I did and that was the reason why my skin always showed a positive reaction to TBs as if I had tuberculosis.

[mkud]

So my issue is this: people who test positive to the TB skin test (for example, those who received the BCG vaccine) who don't have TB are exposed to SO much more radiation as a result of being told to get CHX every time. I wish someone had told me about the TB blood test sooner; it would have saved me a lot of grief. How the skin test can even continue to be the go-to, considering the amount of false positives, is beyond me.