PMID: 6969059Oct 1, 1980Paper

Unreliability of the Mantoux test using 1 TU PPD in excluding childhood tuberculosis in Papua New Guinea

Archives of Disease in Childhood
K Murtagh

Abstract

139 children with bacteriological or histological proof of active tuberculosis were given the Mantoux tuberculin test while they were inpatients at Port Moresby General Hospital. Only half (70) of the children had positive results (induration of at least 5 mm). Of the 35 children under 2 years, 25 (71%) showed no reaction whatsoever. Malnutrition, assessed by weight for age, did not appear to influence the response although nearly all children under 5 weighed less than the Harvard mean. Previous BCG immunisation had no significant effect on the reaction to tuberculin. General debility, recent measles, treatment with corticosteroids, or early stage of illness may account for some negative reactions, but whatever the cause, the high proportion of negative results means that the tuberculin test as currently practised in Papua New Guinea cannot be relied on to exclude active tuberculosis in children.

References

Oct 9, 1965·Lancet·P S Harland
Aug 31, 1968·British Medical Journal·A V Lloyd
Feb 20, 1964·The New England Journal of Medicine·S STARR, S BERKOVICH
Dec 17, 1964·The New England Journal of Medicine·J A BRODYL M HAMMES

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Citations

Feb 1, 1994·Tubercle and Lung Disease : the Official Journal of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease·A GöçmenU Ozçelik
Jul 16, 2014·Microbes and Infection·Serej D LeyHans-Peter Beck

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