ppd question

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi all, I have a quick question. I'm a 24 yo male and I had a PPD test done the other week because I'm going to med school next year and I need it for my paperwork. Anyway besides that, I went in after 72 hours (got it done on Friday and they weren't open on the weekends) and it was slightly red, maybe about 7mm in diameter, no induration and it wasn't raised. They MD said the test was negative.

The next day I noticed that the the area was slightly redder than before, and measuring the size of the circle, it was 10mm in diameter. I have been going tanning this week and last week since I am going to vacation in a few days, so I'm not sure if it caused the area to become more red. It's been a week now since I've had the PPD test, and there is still a 10mm red circle. It doesn't itch and isn't hard. I'm not sure if it's an allergic reaction or maybe some kind of subdermal infection. I have been putting hydrocortisone 1% cream for the past few days, but no change. It doesn't bother me but I don't want this to stay there. I'll be out of the country from this Sunday until right before Christmas, so I won't have a chance to go to the doctors until probably after new years. Hopefully it isn't anything major.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pedi., Critical Care.

Well, we can't give medical advice here but I can tell you that redness does not constitute a positive ppd.

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Ya that's what I figured. I wasn't sure the test is only accurate within 48-72 hours. If for some reason I went in a week later with a bump where the PPD was, would they constitute that as a good reading? I thought it was only the first few days.

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Specializes in A little of this & a little of that.

You ca set your mind at ease by looking this up on the CDC website. If you plan to go into medicine, it's a good site to get to know. :)

The standard for reading PPD's is to measure the area of induration (raised area) between 48-72 hours after it is placed. What happens after that time is not part of the reading. You should also read the info on 2 step PPD's. Any further questions you should really direct to your physician.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Office, Psych.

i teach infectious disease and we read about 150-250 ppd's each month, according to the health department- redness isnt a positive test, its the size of the induration that is to be measured, over 20mm is considered positive , follow-up w/ a chest xray & inh/b6 therapy........ but we never give chest xrays or medication therapy for "redness"... :up:

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Specializes in Home Health/PD.

my ppd's always become red and itchy and stay red for a few weeks after i get it done, i was told not to worry and that it might be a slight allergic reaction to the test.

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my ppd's always become red and itchy and stay red for a few weeks after i get it done, i was told not to worry and that it might be a slight allergic reaction to the test.

Good news! This sounds like my case, thanks for the responses!

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