This information is for people having a Mantoux test – a screening tool for Tuberculosis (TB).

The test involves injecting a small amount of a substance – called tuberculin – into the outer skin layer of the forearm. The area on the arm is assessed after two or three days, to see what type of reaction has happened. During this time the skin may be a little red and itchy.

Make sure you:

• leave the area alone and do not scratch it
• let the air get to it and do not cover it with a plaster
• do not put anything on the area that might change the reaction, such as skin creams or medications, sun lotions, perfume, makeup, shaving foam or beauty treatments
• wash and bathe as normal but keep the area as natural as possible
• are careful with the area but try to forget about it until the reaction is assessed.

Depending on the reaction, you will either be offered a BCG vaccination, further tests to check for TB disease, or nothing further may need to be done.

The test is currently unlicensed in the UK but this does not mean it is unsafe. It is used extensively throughout the world and is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Department of Health (DoH). The test works well at detecting whether a person may have been exposed to TB and it is necessary to have a negative tuberculin skin test before a BCG vaccination can be offered – unless you were born in the UK and are under six-years-old.

Possible side effects

Affecting more than 1 in 100 people

Pain, irritation or discomfort at the injection site immediately after the injection.

Affecting less than 1 in 100 people

Headache, fever, enlargement of regional lymph node (bean-shaped gland, located in many different areas of the body).

Affecting less than 1 in 1,000 people

Anaphylactic (allergic) reactions, hypersensitivity to tuberculin can cause vesiculation (air pockets beneath the skin) and skin necrosis (death of skin cells).