@bewailknot Do you have the link? Why is it important to know if the infection is recent or not? So, you either caught it in the last three months, the last year, or 20 years ago, but the first PPD we gave you was a false negative. So? Most people I know who are positive are addicts or hospital workers. I know one person who never worked in a hospital, never worked with children. None of these people know where exactly they contracted the bacteria. We can assume the hospital workers got it working in the hospital. So? If they had a wave of multiple positives, especially in one wing of the hospital they might investigate, that would be useful. But, the one new employee being retested would not tell you a bunch of employees working on that wing are also suddenly positive.
From your quote it does not say it is required to do this two step testing, but maybe it is recommended? Honestly, just because the CDC recommends something doesn’t mean it is a great idea. I had tetanus shots 5 years apart that should be ok, but I had a bad reaction, which I had never had in the past and my tetanus titer is extremely high, and I wonder if some of my chronic health problems are related. My mom who used to work in vaccinations for the FDA is horrified by my titer number. Thank goodness I was alert on my ER admission a few months ago and could refuse the shot, I really need to get a bracelet. But, the protocol is my vaccination should have been just fine.
Don’t get me wrong, if I were convinced it truly is much better for the greater popuation to do this two step testing I would agree we should do it. But, I am not convinced it is better. I also think possibly it might increase sensitivity to the test with more likelihood of false positive, that is unclear to me, and what I hate about that is once positive the person os destined to a chest xray every year for the rest of their life, or at least their career in that field. I’m pretty negative about unnecessary xrays.