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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Does A Positive Mantoux Test Indicate TB?

recently my wife diagnosed as mantoux test positive.Dr.has send her for further investigation.But i read the symptoms of TB she did not suffered from any of these.I just want to know if a person diagnosed as as mantoux test positive is he/she must have TB disease?
posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Twitter Thu, 6 Nov 2014 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 6 Nov 2014 Last reviewed on
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Radiologist,  's  Response
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.

A Mantoux test indicates the possibility of TB infection but can be false positive in some people. The size of induration is important and the time of reading when declaring a patient as Mantoux positive. TB diagnosis should be made after taking into consideration clinical symptoms, blood investigations and imaging diagnosis. Without investigating in detail, it is difficult to tell if a patient is having TB disease after doing Mantoux positive. I suggest you get gold and platinum antibody tests done to check for any antibodies to TB bacteria which can show possibility of infection in recent past or even earlier. Discussion with a pulmonologist (TB specialist) is essential to make a confirmed diagnosis and before starting treatment.
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Does A Positive Mantoux Test Indicate TB?

Hi, Thanks for writing in. A Mantoux test indicates the possibility of TB infection but can be false positive in some people. The size of induration is important and the time of reading when declaring a patient as Mantoux positive. TB diagnosis should be made after taking into consideration clinical symptoms, blood investigations and imaging diagnosis. Without investigating in detail, it is difficult to tell if a patient is having TB disease after doing Mantoux positive. I suggest you get gold and platinum antibody tests done to check for any antibodies to TB bacteria which can show possibility of infection in recent past or even earlier. Discussion with a pulmonologist (TB specialist) is essential to make a confirmed diagnosis and before starting treatment.