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Any false positive TB blood test results out there?
I've been recently having some chronic health issues, but both my infectious disease specialist and I were shocked when I had my Quantiferon Gold TB blood test came back positive. When I originally asked him about false positives, he had said that the test was incredibly accurate and a false positive was unlikely; however, he recently said after doing more research he suspects it may in fact be a false positive. I'm set to have the test repeated soon, but I was just curious if anyone (or how many) people had received a false positive TB blood test before?
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I just had a positive test, I am really confused, I havent been around anyone in many months without a mask due to covid. Having blood test after being diagnosed with RA, My drs are out of town so I am left to wonder for a week or 2 and its driving me a little crazy.
There should be an investigation in the many false positives and their cost to the patient. My daughter has Crohn’s and the Q-gold is now refused but they still insist! It comes back positive every time and then they want another chest X-ray, plus a visit to infectious disease who then says yea probably a false positive but let’s just put you on antibiotics to reflect In your record !!! Really, give unneeded antibiotics for a false positive to a Crohn’s patient!!! Like they don’t already have GI issues. The Q-gold does not adequately train the labs to identify false positives or teach doctors how to look at the results and verify the ratio for the false positives.
Help! Patients avoid the paperwork, unnecessary testing , exposure to radiation, and addition to sterile air rooms on the infectious disease floor…
There are many and it does not seem to be reported. This test boast of accuracy yet the field results are proof of inaccuracy.
People who have had BCG vaccination may test positive for TB because the virus is live not dead like in the U.S.. Two of my children always will test positive due to that, but they do not have TB. They should actually not have the test done and just get a doctor’s note. Those are the only cases I know of that present false positives. ( irene5)