Viral Tuberculin Test in Children: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment Characteristics

Tuberculin probe is a diagnostic method for determining the sensitivity of a person to tuberculosis bacteria. The test allows to determine whether there is a tuberculous infection in the body. The most common form of testing is the Mantoux test.

What is called a bend of tuberculin test

Many parents, for the first time hearing the diagnosis of "turn of a tubercular test", ask what it is. A first positive test result is called a TB tubular test, provided that before that the results were negative. The cause of the turnaround may be either inoculation against tuberculosis, or infection with the disease. In any case, after hearing this term, it is not necessary to panic: for the final confirmation of the diagnosis the child needs to undergo several additional tests. And only after a complete examination the doctor will be able to deliver the final diagnosis.

Mantoux

Mantoux's response is the response of the body to the ingestion of tuberculin. In the injection zone of the drug there is a characteristic inflammation caused by blood cells responsible for immunity. If a bacterium of tuberculosis is present in the human body, the reaction of the organism to the injection will be more intensive and the sample will show a positive result. Measuring with the help of a ruler the so-called papule (in simple terms, "button" Mantoux), determine the degree of reaction of human immunity to the tuberculosis bacterium. The setting of Mantoux test is prohibited in the presence of skin or infectious diseases, as well as patients suffering from aggravation of allergies.

Reaction to the test in children

In most cases, the child's reaction to injection is negative. In the remaining 30% of children, the sample gives a dubious or positive result.

The child's organism encounters tuberculosis bacteria at an early age. A distinctive property of Koch's rods is the rate of penetration into the human body. With weak immunity, the infection quickly enters the body and lingers in it for life. The causative agent of tuberculosis may not manifest itself until the occurrence of favorable conditions for dissemination. The process of contact of tuberculosis bacteria with the child's body is very difficult. Children under the age of 3 years are at high risk. At this age in 90% of cases, getting the infection into the body leads to the onset of the disease.

All children vaccinated against tuberculosis pass the tuberculin testing procedure every year.

Positive analysis result

The circulation of a tuberculin test in children is a dynamic change in the negative result to a positive result over time. The process consists of the following stages:

1. As a result of the primary test, a dubious or negative result was diagnosed.
2. Secondary examination showed an increase in inflammation up to 15 mm.
3. Subsequent testing showed an increase in the papule by 5 mm compared with the second stage.

The diagnosis of a "tuberculin test" in children does not mean that the child is sick with tuberculosis. An increase in the papule can sometimes be the result of an allergic reaction of the body to the injection. But, as a rule, the turn indicates the presence of bacteria in the child's body. For the final diagnosis, the doctor will give the patient an additional examination.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

It is interesting to know the opinion of the famous pediatrician Evgeny Olegovich Komarovsky about the bend of the tuberculin test in children. The doctor says that a positive result of the Mantoux test indicates the presence of a tubercle bacillus in the child's body. The process of increasing the papule indicates the development of immunity. Further Komarovsky advises to conduct an additional examination of the child: undergo a thorough examination, take a blood test, do fluoroscopy. If these measures have confirmed a preliminary diagnosis, you need to start treating tuberculosis. If the suspicion is not confirmed, the child is considered healthy and additional measures for diagnosis and treatment are not required.

Sometimes the treating doctor has doubts about the diagnosis. This often happens when an X-ray shot can not be interpreted unambiguously. In this case, Yevgeny Olegovich advises to conduct a preventive course of treatment with Isoniazid. Viral tuberculin test has a chance to develop into true tuberculosis over time. It can pass 5, and sometimes even 10 years, and untreated at the time the rudiments of ailment will turn into a real terrible disease.

The probability of such a process is 0.5%, but nevertheless in most cases doctors are reinsured and prescribe an antibiotic for children. In this situation, Dr. Komarovsky advises parents not to trust doctors who are often incompetent, and make their own decisions.

The use of "isoniazid"

The process of treatment of tuberculosis is lengthy, especially since, upon completion, the patient needs an additional course of rehabilitation. Therefore, the prevention of tuberculosis is more important than the process of its treatment. Treatment of the bend of tuberculin test in children with the help of isoniazid is an important component of anti-tuberculosis measures. Studies prove that the use of isoniazid allows you to reduce by 90% the likelihood of developing tuberculosis in people who have previously been infected.

The drug has an effect on tuberculosis bacteria, which are at the stage of reproduction, and also destroys the microorganisms of the disease in the rest phase. High effectiveness of the drug is noted not only in the treatment of tuberculosis, but also in the prevention. It is important to understand that the use of "Isoniazid" should be carried out only in those situations when the diagnosis showed obvious risk factors for the development of this disease. The drug is indicated only for patients whose diagnosis allows the infection of bacteria with tuberculosis or suggests the possibility of developing active forms of the disease.

"Isoniazid" is prescribed for children who have been in contact with the carriers of the disease. After 3 months after the course of treatment, the child shows Mantoux test. The course of preventive intake of the drug for children is 2 months. "Isoniazid" is taken in an amount of up to 10 mg per kilogram of patient's body weight per day.

Risk of infection from the child

Numerous studies conducted by epidemiologists show that in the classical course of tuberculosis, children very rarely infect other children or adults. Children's cough is practically free of sputum, and a weak coughing impulse in the child is not able to spray bacteria particles in the air. At the same time, adolescents with extensive foci of disease can transmit the disease. When detecting pulmonary tuberculosis in a child, many doctors recommend isolating a young patient. However, it is proved that such a measure is superfluous: the circulation of a tuberculin test in children is very rarely transmitted.