Whew! I don't have TB!

I just wanted to let you all know some exciting news: I don't have TB! You are probably thinking, 'Uh, I didn't know that was something you were worried about.' TB actually wasn't something I was worried until a few weeks ago, but for a few days I was sure that I had it.

As medical students we have to get tested for TB twice during fall quarter of our first year (and then once a year from now on). When they administered the first test they told me it was just to 'prime up' my immune system for the second test. A few days ago they administered the second test and the nurse told me that I had ever been exposed to TB the test would show up positive. I remembered back to the time I spent in the IDP camps in Northern Uganda and then to my visit to the Kibera slum (the largest slum in East Africa) in Nairobi and thought there was probably a pretty good chance that I had been exposed to TB sometime during my trip. I inquired what would happen if I had a positive test and they said that I would have to go for a chest X ray and then have 9 months of daily triple antibiotic therapy. That didn't sound like much fun to me. So needless to say that I was pretty worried when I got the second TB test. However, it two days later I got the test read and it turns out I don't have TB! Whew. What a relief!