RESUMO
Five hundred healthy school children in the age group 5-9 years underwent tuberculin testing. Seventy nine per cent of the study population had a BCG scar. 9.2% children were found to be suffering from malnutrition, using the Quetlet's Index and 7.8% were found to be malnourished by weight for age method. 18.6% of the children were tuberculin positive (induration > or = 10 mm) and the prevalence of tuberculin positivity increased with age. The numbers of tuberculin reactors or the mean tuberculin reaction were not affected by malnutrition. BCG scar status neither affected the mean tuberculin size nor the number of tuberculin reactors.
Assuntos
Vacina BCG/diagnóstico , Distribuição de Qui-Quadrado , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Cicatriz/imunologia , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Índia/epidemiologia , Masculino , Distúrbios Nutricionais/imunologia , Estudos Prospectivos , Teste Tuberculínico , Tuberculose/diagnósticoRESUMO
The tuberculin test is widely used for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in children as it is the only one that provides evidence of infection with M. tuberculosis. Of the tuberculins that are available, the most widely used are PPDS and PPDRT 23, in various strengths. A positive test indicates prior infection with the tubercle bacillus but not necessarily active disease. A positive test may also result from BCG vaccination though the response is usually less than 10 mm and tends to wane with time. In areas with a high prevalence of atypical mycobacteria in the environment, positive reactions may also be due to cross-reactivity. BCG has been recommended by some workers as a diagnostic test but suffers from the disadvantages of low specificity.