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Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology
2006 October, Vol. IX, No. 1 (3274-3279)
LATENT TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION AMONG STUDENTS OF SCHOOL TUBERCULOSIS CONTACT
Elena Suciliene1, Dantue Budgeniene1, Arunas Valiulis2, Viktorija Pavydiene2
1 State University Hospital of TB and Infectious Diseases, Vilnius, Lithuania
2 Vilnius University Clinic of Children Diseases, Vilnius, Lithuania
Tuberculosis (TB) is airborn transmitted infectious disease. Risk to be infected depends on the concentration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) in the air, time of exposition, virulence of MT and the immune status of the person. Childhood TB often isn’t transmissible but teenagers can be sick with contagious postprimary TB forms. Classmates of TB patient are of the high priority to be investigated for TB and latent TB infection. Objective. Sputum smear positive pulmonary TB (AFB+) and only culture positive (TM+) pulmonary TB were detected to 17 years old students in two different schools of Vilnius. The aim of the study was to compare the extend of the transmission of MT to the classmates of sick students. Contact students were investigated by skin tuberculin test (STT) with 2 TU of tuberculin PPD-RT 23 and chest X-ray. From the class of contacts with sputum smear positive TB 72.7 perc. of students had latent TB infection and from the class of sputum only culture positive TB 31.7 perc., p = 0.032 (cut off tuberculin test 10 mm), and 95.5 perc. vs 45.5, perc. respectively, p = 0.048 (cut off tuberculin test 6 mm). Nevertheless, the Xray revealed nodular pulmonary TB for the student from the culture positive contact class. Though the rate of transmission of TM is higher in sputum smear positive pulmonary TB case, close contacts of culture positive pulmonary TB have to be investigated for TB and latent TB infection too.