VERY Urgent...x-ray cannot be done as pregnant,Skin test(Monto Test/Montoux Test).

G

generalgccp

Registered Users (C)
I have already posted part of this in "Likey Mumbai CP Interview in April, May, June -2004" thread but as it is urgent, am posting it seperately.

We had gone for medicals (myself+wife). Due to pregnant conditions, the doctor gave us an option of
1) doing x-ray now with lead protection or
2) post-delivery x-ray.
As our interview date is in june and her del. date is in sept, we asked if we can do sputum test.but the doctor said that normally, sputum test is done only if x-ray is +ve.
We consulted our family doctor and other radiologist and all of them said that doing x-ray with lead protection is not a problem as it is 3rd trimester.Hence we decided to do x-ray.

But the next time when we went to leelavati, the doctor has changed (earlier doctor has gone on vacation).

Now this doctor is telling that i will not advise for x-ray as it may be harmful for child. He told that he will contact conuslate for confirming if sputum test result will suffice there requirement (a doctor coming for checking visa-section people and he is not aware of consulate procedures).

we contacted US consulate and the consulate person asked us to come with the existing report (two samples result is -ve) and also asked us to tell to leelavati doctor to call them. The result of the 3rd sample will be on the day of interview.

1has anybody done sputum test for the cp interview?
2is sputum test acceptable to consulate?
3if medical is incomplete, will it effect the inteview?. i mean will the consulate keep my wife case pending with the reason "..medical pending". When she delivers, than can she do x-ray and submit the medicals (after 2 months)?

GUYS AND GURUS PLEASE HELP ME A.S.A.P..
 
hi,
one of my friend had undergone sputum test(not because of preg but she had TB few yrs back).she went to consulate(chennai)withour her med report but was asked to bring the report and then only interview will be conducted.went their again next week with sputum test result (which was negative)and other reports and was issued visa.
i know it's not directly related to your case but hope it helps.
austin.
 
Any inputs..please?

will the interview itself get re-scheduled or I can get the IV packet(I am the main applicant) and she can complete the rest (submission of DS-230 Part1 and 2, Oath,etc) and then when the sputum test results are available, she can go at consulate and get the IV packet?

Thanks..
 
Don't get nervous General.

AS you stated you have already contacted the consulate and he asked to walk in with it then you better go, if the interviewer ask you for the third sample result you can produce it later as and when it is avaliable.

If you are in a tight schedule and you cannot wait then you can request the interviewer to go ahead with your stamping and wife's can be pending which can be completed after the submission of results.

If you have the P4 packet sent to you by the consulate look at the instructions for medical they have clearly stated about the SPUTUM test.


Hope this answers your query.

Thanks
 
Thanks VM.

In P4, the consulate says "..Fee for bacteriological examination of sputum, for a series of three acid-fast smears, Rs.300.." for Lilavati (Rs 390 for Breach candy and PD Hinduja).
As this comes from conuslate; the test result should suffice the Consulate requirement. IF I HAD READ LINE-BY-LINE EARLIER, I COULD HAVE SHOWN TO THIS DOCTOR OF LEELAVATI . A lesson learned hard-way, hope future cp-ers go through each line of all documents received by consulate/appropriate authority.

The doctor called up consulate and he was told by consulate that they will contact CDC Atlanta and will get back to doctor. so its a new loop now.
IMPORTANT
Also he was telling that if possible u can postpone ur going to the US till the child is born and ur wife is in a postion to get x-rays. BS, if suppose a lady is 1 week pregnant and X-rays can't be taken, so do we need to wait for 9 months.. . There has to be a way out. GUYS PLEASE GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK... If anybody could share it would greatly help me and future such cases (I hope I am not the first such pregnant lady case)
 
Posted the same post in other thread ""Likey Mumbai CP Interview in April, May, June -2004"

generalgccp,

Sorry for late reply. I'm still in India and not able to get on the net everyday. Anyway, my wife's skin test was also positive. The docotor is right it is very normal for indian girls. But what happened in our case that we have been thru the same situation when we had done our Canadian immigration in USA. I don't know whether you are in India or USA. However, my wife has also done sputum test in USA and I was carrying all the results and other things from USA so the doctor at Lilavati just made copies of those results and attached with my wife's report.

To answer your question: It is safe to go thru x-ray with lead protection. But still if you do not want to do that the sputum test results are acceptable to consulate. Ultimately, all they look for is what doctor has to say for candidate's health.

Hope this helps. YOu might be out of this situation already. But if not, and you want more infor or talk to me you can send me PM with your contacts in India and I will check this board tomorrow for sure and will contact you.
 
Thanks Victor3536 for being so considerate.

I am in India. My interview is just through and was good. Since I could not get the medicals in time, i was asked to come again once the medical is through. Then I went with the medicals and there was no problem. I have got the visa packet with the corner cross-cut.

I will be posting my exp. shortly in a new thread.

One thing regarding sputum test is , sputum test is ONLY done if they suspect something wrong in X-ray(that is the sequence). I did lot of research and my days until i got the visa was really stressful. I also understand that if there is anything wrong than depending on the type of TB the person has to go in for medication for upto 9 months (May God forbid everybody from TB)
 
sputum test one more hassel

I am bit worried about the sputum test as my wife will be in mid of her 2nd Trimester.
Can we individually do this test from her doctor on request to identify if the test could be positive?
Based in that we can cancel our interview before we run into any problem and getting stuck over there.
 
generalgccp,

Did your wife had any signs (like some fever few months before etc.) that could made the sputum test as positive?
That will be helpful to alterting future candidates who might get positive sputum test results even if there is no TB.
 
Folks,

Can anyone post the type of medical tests they do in India? What do they test except for giving vaccinations (if needed)? Is the sputum and skin test mandatory (required)?? It would be helpful to know .. maybe future Cpers can get the tests done in US before leaving for India for interview...

Please post your experiences/knowledge.
Thanks.
S
 
To my understanding, these tests cannot be done in US. The consulate has designated hospitals/doctors/labs for the same.
 
sanjay76 said:
Folks,

Can anyone post the type of medical tests they do in India? What do they test except for giving vaccinations (if needed)? Is the sputum and skin test mandatory (required)?? It would be helpful to know .. maybe future Cpers can get the tests done in US before leaving for India for interview...

Please post your experiences/knowledge.
Thanks.
S
Click to expand...

Hi Sanjay,

I went through medical recently at Delhi for my cp and the Doctor (Dr.Dawesar) told me that based on experience they conduct the sputum and skin test. If they do these tests then the time required for completing the medical goes up. I believe that the skin test is for TB and normally all Indians show some positive signs -- the doctor can tell if it's beyond the margins for healthy Indians! Based on her responses, the tests are not mandatory and if all of us may get some minor response, then gettign it done in US is of no use.

Rjain
 
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Different tests, my 5 cents

1. Mantoux skin test:
A small amount of (dead) tuberculosis bugs is injected into the surface of the skin. If a person has been exposed to TB in the past (as many people in developing countries are) this test will be most definetely positive. Another problem is the fact that many people outside of the US traditionally got immunized against certain forms of TB at birth (the so-called BCG vaccine). If you had the vaccine, you might show up on the Mantoux test as having had the disease although in fact you never had.
For these reasons, the Mantoux test is relatively useless when screening a population from a country were TB is not all that uncommon as it will be positive in almost everyone.
If you EVER had a positive skin test, you should NEVER have this test done again. It will be positive anyway, and your skin might get damaged.

2. Sputum test
The sputum test is done to see whether a person has active and contagious disease. Typically this test will only be done to evaluate a patient with X-ray findings suspicious for active disease or a clinical suspicion of active disease. A patient who got exposed to TB e.g. as a child, but overcame the disease will have a positive skin test, but a negative sputum test.
If you have a positive sputum test it means you can infect other people and you are at risk of dying from TB. This is information worthwhile not only for the goverment but also for YOU.

3. X-ray
A x-ray of the chest, from the front as well as the side, is a good test for the presence of active infectious disease. And this is what the goverment is interested in.
As for the issue of radiation: The radiation dose for a regular chest x-ray performed on modern equipment, will be far less than 1/10th of the radation dose you are exposed to while flying from lets say India to the US.
Although there is an active discussion whether there is any safe radiation dose for a pregnant lady, think about it this way: Would you consider flying on a plane while beeing pregnant ? If the answer is yes, then don't worry too much about the largely theoretical risk of the x-ray to the unborn child.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN IN ANY MATTERS RELATING TO YOUR HEALTH. THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL, ALBEIT INFORMED, OPINION.
 
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sanjay76 said:
Folks,

Can anyone post the type of medical tests they do in India? What do they test except for giving vaccinations (if needed)? Is the sputum and skin test mandatory (required)?? It would be helpful to know .. maybe future Cpers can get the tests done in US before leaving for India for interview...

Please post your experiences/knowledge.
Thanks.
S
Click to expand...

The normal tests are as follows:

For Adults:
AT the LAB
a) Blood test to rule out some communicable diseases.
b) Blood test to determine immunity levels (Physician uses this to decide on
the shots you need)
c) Chest X- Ray (with some exemptions to pregnant women)

The other tests for TB are only conducted if there is some indication
in the X-rays and not for everyone.

Childred upto the age of 16 (check this) are exempt from lab tests

Physician's Office:

a) General physicals
b) Administration of immunization shots as required.

You can not have the blood tests or physicals done anywhere else other
than the panel lab and doctors.

You can however get some immunization shots in US and carry the results
and the doctor MAY accept them and waive those shots for you.

Raju
 
Thanks Hadron and everyone else!

Based on what I understand from the various posts -

1). TB tests are NOT mandatory but will be done if anything suspicious shows up in the Xray.

2). Two types of TB test - Montoux and Sputum. The docs office will almost always conduct both as the results of Montoux do not tell the full story.

3). If one has to undergo TB tests, this might delay the issuance of Medical reports meaning one might NOT get the reports THE SAME DAY?????? AM I RIGHT??

Hadron and others - can you all please confirm my understanding? Is #3, a correct assumption??

Thanks.
S
 
How to test for TB

1. In someone who never lived in a TB area you do:

-- Mantoux test if negative --> you are done.
-- if positive you get a chest x-ray --> if negative you are done
-- if anything suspicious on cxr --> sputum test

2. In someone from a TB endemic area (outside US, western Europe, Australia or Japan) you do:

-- Chest X-ray if negative --> you are done
-- if positive you get the sputum test --> if negative, you are done

3. The original question was what you do in a pregnant lady:

In my humble opinion nothing different from #2. The radiation dose is rather negligible, the result is back during your initial visit.
In reality, people have a high anxiety about x-rays and rather choose to use the sputum test.

As for the time required:

-- The Chest x-ray. 2.5milliseconds+whatever time it takes to develop and interpret the film. Typically less than a day.

-- The Mantoux test: It is placed into the skin by a qualified healthcare provider and has to be read 48hrs later

-- The sputum test: There are different protocols, but typically you would collect sputum on two to three consecutive days and send the specimen to a lab for testing. It might take a couple of days to come back.


I don't know what the requirements of the US consulate in India are. They will most definitely be different from the types of tests done while here in the US.

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN OR THE PHYSICIAN ADMINISTERING THE TESTS FOR THE CONSULATE.
 
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cpquery,
just to add, my wife is perfectly healthy as usual and as others have pointed out, montoux test will be +ve 99% of indians(atleast).

one thing I would like to add though is...for pregnant lady, it is not advisable to take X-ray during the FIRST trimester (although recent findings havee proved that it is safe to take x-ray even in first month of pregnancy) and it is safe to take x-ray during third trimester. BUT ALWAYS USE LEAD PROTECTION.

One more thing, the medicals is valid for upto one year (the consualte people told e when I had called up). So if anybody is planning for parenthood, please have the x-ray / medical done (although p4 is reqd. for medicals but there must be a way out for the medicals to be done with some letter from consulate). All this Montoux/Sputum complication is going to come if X-rays can't be taken (if the person is not having any TB history).
 
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