Mend Your Diet

TB and the Health Department?

My brother was exposed to an active case of TB a while back. He was notified by the Health Department. He went to HD and they gave him test and gave him antibiotics to take for several months.He didn't take them all and drank alcohol the whole time he did take any. He says the HD said it was just a precaution. I think he is lying and living in denial as well as an idiot. Now I found a stack of letters from the HD saying he MUST come in for a chest xray at their TB Dept. He refuses to go even though it is free. They have been sending them every single month for the last 6 months or longer. He just ignores the letters or throws them away. What is the deal? The HD won't tell us anything as they say it would violate his privacy. What about those of us exposed to him. He lived with our Mother.He left for now and moved in with some girl crazy enough to take him for awhile. He's a habitual liar, an alcoholic and can't be trusted to be honest. What should we do? The HD won't tell us anything. I know he has a horrible sounding wet cough, he is an alcoholic, he has reported having fever, chills, night sweats, flu like symptoms that come and go for several months now and refuses to go to the doctor, he has complained with chest pains, he’s lost weight. He had relationship with someone with an active case of TB and was in jail when there were active cases. He and my mother lived in a small 2 home with very poor ventilation for an extended period of time. My mother suffers from some of the same symptoms but refuses to be tested. I am forced to see her everyday (too long to explain). I have been keeping at least 3-4 ft distance from her and have made excuses not to go inside her home. I was tested and was negative. I worry about those who know nothing about his problem and his child that often sleeps in the same bed with him. Am I over-reacting or would the HD allow someone suspected to be an active case to roam around without any action?

Public Comments

1. TB is on the rise mostly from workers coming up from South American countries. It is also very contagious. If he won't go in to see if he has active TB then at a minimum you should get tested and certainly your Mother. You can't ask the Health Dept. specific questions about your brother but you can tell them you have a brother that refused to take the antibiotics given to him by HD and what if any precautions should you take as well as what precautions your mother should take. Good luck and God Bless
2. I worked at the Health Department for a while so I should be able to answer this. When a TB skin test is positive, it means the person has the tuberculosis virus in their lungs but only a chest xray will show whether the infection is active or dormant. If the infection is active, they will be put on treatment for a year. If the TB is dormant, the person is offered prophylactic treatment for 6 months. As your brother says, as a precaution....and they can choose not to take it. Obviously, your brother chose to take the 6 month treatment. At the end of the six months, he was supposed to go back for a chest xray. Stopping the treatment before completing it is bad because it can make the virus resistant to the medication, so in the future if his tuberculosis becomes active, the medication may not work. On the other hand, the TB medication can be toxic to the liver...and taking it at the same time as drinking alcohol would be even worse.
3. If he refuses to go in and especially if he has a cough, then you, your mother, and any other contacts need to go in to get tested. And you need to explain to the health department that you might have been exposed to someone who had a positive TB exposure, has a cough, and DID NOT finish his medication regime. TB is transmitted via droplets- you def. could have been exposed. If you are in the US, TB is one of the only diseases that a person can be quarentined for uncompliance. At some point the health department will track him down (hopefully with your help) and bring him in.