Q: My employer wants me to get a TB test and I am worried because I may be pregnant but it is still too early to tell if I am or not. Is it safe to get a PPD test when you are pregnant

A:Tuberculin skin testing is safe and reliable for pregnant women. No teratogenic effects have been documented. However, routine testing of pregnant women is not necessary, unless they have conditions, which suggest a high risk of progression from infection to disease. These conditions include: - Symptoms suggestive of active TB disease - HIV infection or behavioural risk factors for HIV infection, where HIV status is unknown - Recently arrived foreign-born from areas where TB disease is endemic e.g. Asia, Africa, Russia, Latin America, Caribbean, etc. - Medical conditions that have been reported to increase the risk of TB disease, e.g. diabetes mellitus, silicosis, prolonged corticosteroid therapy, other immunosuppressive therapy, haematologic reticuloendothelial diseases, e.g. leukaemia and Hodgkins disease, carcinoma of the head or neck and lung, end stage renal disease, intestinal bypass or gastrectomy, chronic malabsorption syndromes, or low body weight (10% or more below ideal weight) - Close contact of someone with infectious laryngeal or lung TB disease.