Incoming San Diego State University students satisfy the university’s TB rule in two steps: first, complete the online TB risk assessment questionnaire in the HealtheConnect portal; then, only if your answers flag you as higher risk, have a licensed healthcare provider complete the SDSU Tuberculosis Clinical Assessment form within 30 days of entering the university.1San Diego State University. Undergraduates – My Requirements Fall students must be done by July 15, and spring students by January 5.2San Diego State University. Deadline
Who Actually Needs the Clinical Form
Every incoming student fills out the online questionnaire, which lives under the Forms tab in HealtheConnect. It asks about travel history, living situations, and possible TB exposure. If your answers don’t flag you, that questionnaire is the entire requirement, and you’re done.1San Diego State University. Undergraduates – My Requirements
You’re likely to be flagged for the clinical form if you’ve spent significant time in a country the World Health Organization classifies as a high TB burden nation, if you’re enrolling in a healthcare major with clinical rotations, or if you’ll be living in on-campus housing. The WHO high-burden list covers 30 countries and includes India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and South Africa.3Stop TB Partnership. High Burden Countries for Tuberculosis
Getting the Form
The Tuberculosis Clinical Assessment is a PDF on the SDSU Student Health Services site.4San Diego State University. Tuberculosis Clinical Assessment by Healthcare Provider Download and print it, fill in the student portion at home, and bring it to your appointment ready for your provider to complete the clinical half.
Filling Out the Student Section
The top of the form asks for your name, date of birth, and SDSU RedID. Get the RedID right. Health Services uses it to match the form to your student record, and a wrong number can delay clearance.
Next is a question about the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. BCG is given routinely in many countries outside the United States, so if you were born or raised abroad you may have received it as an infant. Answering “yes” doesn’t mean you have TB, but it matters because BCG can cause a false-positive result on the standard skin test.5Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) Vaccine for Tuberculosis Students with a BCG history should ask for the blood test instead.
The symptom section asks whether you currently have any signs of active pulmonary TB. The listed symptoms are:
- Cough lasting three weeks or longer, with or without producing sputum
- Coughing up blood
- Chest pain
- Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
- Night sweats or fever
Answer honestly. Checking “yes” doesn’t mean you have TB, but it tells your provider to do further workup before signing off.4San Diego State University. Tuberculosis Clinical Assessment by Healthcare Provider
What the Provider Does
A licensed healthcare provider completes the clinical portion. They review your risk factors and symptoms, examine you, and order a TB test if screening indicates one. The form accepts either a Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) or an Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) blood test, with IGRA listed as preferred.4San Diego State University. Tuberculosis Clinical Assessment by Healthcare Provider
Tuberculin Skin Test
The TST, sometimes called a PPD or Mantoux test, is a small injection just under the skin of your forearm. You have to return to the same provider’s office 48 to 72 hours later so a trained professional can measure the reaction, which is recorded in millimeters on the form.6Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinical Testing Guidance for Tuberculosis – Tuberculin Skin Test Miss the reading window and the test is invalid, so schedule both visits before you commit.
IGRA Blood Test
The IGRA is a single blood draw with no return visit. It’s the better option if you had the BCG vaccine, because BCG doesn’t cause false positives on blood tests.7Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinical Testing Guidance for Tuberculosis – Interferon Gamma Release Assay The form has checkboxes for the two common methods, QuantiFERON-TB Gold and T-SPOT. Results usually come back in a few days.
After the evaluation, the provider signs and dates the form and adds their name, title, and phone number. Without a signature, SDSU will not accept it.
What If Your Test Comes Back Positive
A positive skin or blood test doesn’t mean you have active TB. It means your body has been exposed to the bacteria. The next step is a chest X-ray to check for signs of active disease.8Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chest X-Ray
If the chest X-ray is normal and your provider rules out active disease, you’re typically diagnosed with latent TB infection, meaning the bacteria are in your body but inactive. You’re not contagious and have no symptoms. Your provider may recommend preventive treatment, and regimens can run from three to nine months depending on the medication.9Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Treatment for Latent Tuberculosis Infection Starting treatment isn’t a prerequisite for campus clearance; a documented normal chest X-ray is generally what SDSU needs to clear a student with a positive test.
Submitting the Signed Form
Upload the completed, signed form through the HealtheConnect portal using your university credentials. Save it as a clear PDF or image. Blurry scans and unreadable handwriting are the most common reasons a submission gets kicked back for review.
HealtheConnect has a clearance status section where you can see whether your document has been processed. Turnaround is not guaranteed and slows down during peak enrollment when the portal is handling thousands of incoming student documents. Check back rather than waiting for an email.
Deadlines and the Registration Hold
Fall students must finish by July 15. Spring students must finish by January 5. Miss the deadline and SDSU places a registration hold on your account for the following semester, blocking you from enrolling in classes until you provide the required documentation.2San Diego State University. Deadline
If you need a TB test, build in extra time. The IGRA needs lab processing, which takes several days. The TST requires two visits 48 to 72 hours apart. A positive on either then triggers a chest X-ray before your form is complete. Starting a week out from the deadline is cutting it very close.
Cost and Insurance
Under the Affordable Care Act, most health plans cover TB screening at no cost for adults considered at higher risk when you use an in-network provider.10HealthCare.gov. Preventive Care Benefits for Adults That usually covers the skin test or the blood test. Coverage for follow-up such as a chest X-ray depends on your plan.
Students seen at SDSU Student Health Services may have costs handled through the student health fee. If you go to an outside provider, confirm before your appointment that TB screening is covered as a preventive service and that the provider is in-network. An IGRA billed at an out-of-network lab can be considerably more expensive than a skin test at a campus clinic.