Connect
TB incubation period and onset of symptoms
My son-in-law tested positive for TB last week as part of an employment exam. He was at our house most of Christmas weekend with his family. The day after Christmas I woke up with a sore throat and have been sick since then. Should I be concerned about the possibility of it being TB and get tested? I know nothing about TB and how long it takes to present symptoms after exposure. I’m 66 years old. My symptoms have been severe sore throat that comes and goes, tightness of chest, coughing up phlegm, off and on fever with aches and pains. I’m on day six and don’t seem to be getting better. With this being a holiday weekend, I don’t know if I should pursue immediate care or wait out the weekend and talk to someone next week.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Health Support Group.
Connect
@drt You can relax! It's not TB for sure - that takes a long time to incubate.
Your son-in-laws positive test likely means he has "latent TB" which is not contagious - this happens all the time in employment exams. You can read about TB here:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/is-tuberculosis-contagious
The 24 hour incubation seems to indicate you picked up one of the respiratory "nasties" that are running through communities like wildfire right now - colds, influenza, RSV, Covid... Many of us in our RV community got sick within 1-3 days after our communal Thanksgiving Dinner. Some bounced back in 3-4 days, but most of us were miserable for 2 weeks.
Depending on your general health, you can probably safely wait to see if you are better by Tuesday. Or maybe call you Doctor or Clinic 24 hour line and ask what you should do? Certainly if you feel worse, can't catch your breath after coughing, or get severe pain, it is time to head for Urgent Care or the Emergency Department.
Sue
Sue
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI had a positive TB blood test before I was put on my new biologic. Standard protocol. Did a chest X-ray. Not positive. Went to infectious disease doc who did new gold-something TB test - normal. She said false positives are not uncommon. They will likely do an xray and repeat the blood test.