Tuberculin reaction among healthy BCG vaccinated primary school, children in Nnewi, south eastern Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the Mantoux test reaction pattern in healthy BCG vaccinated Primary School Children aged 6 -10 years in Nnewi, South -East Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four primary schools were randomly selected out of 43 government owned primary schools in the town. The entire BCG vaccinated pupils in each school were the sample frame. Mantoux test was administered in 662 pupils that met the inclusion criteria and had their results read 72 hours later.

RESULTS

Three groups of children were identified: First group of 470 (75.6%) were negative, 76 (12.2%) had intermediate reaction, while 76 (12.2%) had positive Mantoux test. Increasing age, sex, presence of BCG scar and age at vaccination did not affect the pattern of Mantoux test reaction.

CONCLUSION

The result indicates that the use of Mantoux test in the diagnosis of Tuberculosis may not be affected by BCG vaccination at birth and therefore, BCG vaccination at birth should be continued.