A positive tuberculosis (TB) skin test can look different depending on your risk factors. Learn risk factors to consider and what a positive test may look like.

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a disease that infects nearly 11 million people worldwide, killing some 1.25 million of them every year, per data from the World Health Organization. A person infected with ...

Rapid TB test shows high sensitivity, specificity Boehme CC. N Engl J Med. 2010;363:1005-1015.

The second diagnostic test option is known as a purified protein derivative (PPD) test, but it's commonly referred to as a TB skin test. "TB skin tests have been used in medicine for over a ...

New TB Test Developed That Will Dramatically Cut Diagnosis Time. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 4, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2009 / 03 / 090319132952.htm.

The TB skin test involves injecting a small amount of a fluid called tuberculin into the skin of the arm. A healthcare worker then assesses the injection site 48 to 72 hours later to check for a ...

This test may show white spots (granulomas) in your lungs where your immune system has trapped TB bacteria. A positive test might be an indication of tuberculosis.

“The equation is simple: If we were putting more resources into testing for TB, we would be finding more TB,” said Dr. Yaw Adusi-Poku, who heads Ghana’s national TB control program.

Results of a PPD test are not immediate because the test has to determine "if the immune system has been previously (affected) by TB exposure," says Doyle, which can take a couple of days.