How to carry out a Mantoux test
For the detection of TB infection to children under the skin are the product containing tuberculin. The skin in this place there is a specific inflammation (papule), which is caused by infiltration of lymphocytes (the blood cells responsible for immunity). The tuberculin will respond to only those lymphocytes that are already known to the tubercle Bacillus - the causative agent of tuberculosis. If the body is present, inflammation at the injection site will be more intense, and the Mantoux test will be called "positive".
Reaction to tuberculin is one of the varieties of Allergy.
On the second or third day after the injection, the doctor measures with a ruler the diameter of the papule and evaluates the immunity to the tubercle Bacillus. The Mantoux test is defined as follows. The sample is considered negative if the papule is absent, and kolochnaya reaction is equal to 0-1 mm. This result is the norm. If the injection site has redness, and the size of the infiltrate is 2-4 mm, the sample may be questionable.
The infiltration of 5 mm is typical for a positive reaction. In this case, the child may be referred for consultation to the children's tuberculosis specialist. Counseling is also necessary in the following cases:
- a sharp jump in the size of the papules compared with the previous result.
- sensitivity to tuberculin increases annually on the rise;
- the presence in the family of relatives, or those infected with tuberculosis.
Preventive screening for tuberculosis using the Mantoux test must undergo healthy children at the age of one year, regardless of which reaction was observed in the previous year.
Side effects, contraindications to the formulation of the Mantoux test
Mantoux test may cause the child allergic reactions and other side effects. Often there is dizziness and headache, fever up to 40oC, asthma attacks, vomiting, fevers, itching of papules. Some children with a high degree of delayed-type hypersensitivity, local allergic reactions may be accompanied by lymphadenitis, limfangoita, micronecrosis.
Contraindications to the production of the Mantoux test:
- skin diseases,
- acute somatic disease,
- exacerbation of chronic infectious diseases,
- allergic conditions
- epilepsy.
It is impossible to conduct a Mantoux test during the quarantine in the children's groups.
Setting Mantoux test should not be conducted on the same day with any other vaccinations. It is performed not earlier than one month after vaccination, when administered live strains of the pathogens, the interval should be increased to one and a half months.