In our country today, the issue of vaccinations and diagnostic tests is extremely acute, because the number of cases of infectious diseases that are transmitted from person to person decreases slightly. The number of complications caused by improper manipulation techniques or the quality of medications, on the contrary, is increasing. For parents of children of any age, the Mantoux reaction, the norm or its absence, becomes an enormous problem every year - without the result of such a diagnosis, the child may not be allowed in institutions, and the problem of the spread of tuberculosis in modern society is very acute.
Mantoux reaction - what is it
The Mantoux reaction , the norm of which can vary over a fairly wide range, is an intradermal diagnostic test, during which particles of microbial cells of mycobacterium tuberculosis are introduced into the body.
When Koch's bacillus enters the body - both weakened, with a dose of BCG vaccine, and when infected with tuberculosis, the immune system begins to synthesize antibodies that should stop the spread of infection. Accordingly, the Mantoux reaction, the norms of which do not depend on the age of the patient, helps to detect these antibodies - a specific inflammatory reaction develops in the skin when substances are introduced, during the life of the mycobacteria produced by tuberculosis. It is as a result of this that on the skin of the forearm a “button” is formed first, and then redness, the size of which is taken into account as a result of a diagnostic test.
What should be the Mantoux reaction
It must be remembered that the first contact of the human body with human mycobacteria according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health occurs on the 2nd-4th day of life - BCG vaccination is carried out before discharge from the maternity hospital. After that, the body begins the synthesis of antibodies designed to protect the body of its owner from the attack of active mycobacteria, which can cause an active infection.
The problem is that the norm of the Mantoux reaction in a child is not the absence of redness at the injection site in general (as most parents think), but redness, limited in area. If this diagnostic test is performed for the first time in a child’s health at a one-year-old child’s clinic and skin hyperemia does not occur at the injection site, it is concluded that the vaccination was not carried out correctly and immunity to Koch's bacillus was not formed.
This test is repeated every year, and the Mantoux test, the norm, is a papule, the size of which should not exceed 2-4 mm (the result will be considered doubtful). In principle, in pulmonology and phthisiology, it is not the test result itself that matters, but the moment the so-called turn of tuberculin samples is detected. This term means that during the time elapsed after the previous Mantoux test, tuberculosis mycobacteria entered the patient's body, and a specific inflammatory process began in it.
Who is having a Mantoux test
Every year, at the same time of the year (the difference between the two tests should not exceed 13 months), each child aged 1 year to 17 years old should have a Mantoux reaction. The norm obtained when taking the results into account after 72 hours allows identifying candidates for re-vaccination of BCG at 7 and 14 years old. If a bend of tuberculin samples is detected, the child must be referred for consultation to a TB doctor, who should prescribe an in-depth examination of a small patient.
But each parent of a minor child has the right to refuse to conduct a test with tuberculin if 2 weeks before the scheduled date the patient suffered any infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, exacerbations of chronic pathological processes, allergic reactions. The test itself must be carried out by a doctor or a specially trained nurse who must tell the child's relatives about the Mantoux test and the rules for skin care at the injection site.