What is it

When someone has Active TB, the nurse will ask them to name people they’ve spent time with recently. These named people are often called ‘contacts’. ‘Contacts’ could have breathed in the TB germ and should be checked for Sleeping or Active TB. This looks like having a Clinical Evaluation with a nurse and usually a TB skin test or X-ray. The doctor/nurse will decide which tests are needed.

Why do a contact screening?

Contact screening is done to look for Active or Latent TB in people who have been in close contact (spending a lot of time with indoors) with someone who was contagious with Active TB. Contact screening is a way for people who have Latent TB to start treatment before it becomes Active TB, and they become sick. This is especially important because Latent TB is most likely to become Active TB in the first 2 years after someone breathed in the TB germ.

Example conversation with someone and their son who were in contact with someone recently diagnosed with Active TB:

What/Why

• Alright, so I called you the other day because you and your son might have been around someone who was recently told they have Active TB. Active TB is when the TB bacteria can be spread to other people, and we want to check you both in case you breathed in the bacteria.

• The nurses wants to talk to you and do an evaluation. So, they’ll ask some health questions, weigh you and listen to your lungs and from there they’ll probably suggest either a skin test or an X-ray.

Benefits

• You can say no if you want but we really encourage people to come get checked. With TB it’s usually better to know early if you’ve breathed it in so you don’t get as sick, and the treatment is easier.

• We especially recommend it for children because their bodies aren’t as good at fighting the bacteria yet and so they can become more sick, more quickly.

Reassure

• I understand your frustration but it’s really no one’s fault. TB can happen to anyone. The TB bacteria is sneaky and saying yes to the evaluation and TB tests is one way you can have some peace of mind – either you and your kid don’t have TB or one of you does (or both of you do) and we can plan together from there.