Tuberculous infection in Saharia, a primitive tribal community of Central India .

Rao, V.G.; Gopi, P.G.; Yadav, R.; Sadacharam, K.; Bhat J.; Subramani, R.; Anvikar, A.R.; Tiwari, B.K.; Vasantha, M.; Bhondeley, M.K.; Gadge, V.; Eusuff, S.I.; Shukla, G.P.

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; 2008; 102; 898-904 .

Summary: A cross-sectional tuberculin survey was carried out to estimate the prevalence of tuberculous infection and the annual risk of tuberculosis infection (ARTI) among children of Saharia, a primitive ethnic group in Madhya Pradesh , Central India . A total of 1341 children aged 1—9 years were subjected to tuberculin testing with 1 TU of PPD RT 23 and the reaction sizes were read after 72 h. The proportion of BCG scar-positive children was 34.6%. The frequency distribution of children by reaction sizes indicated a clear-cut anti-mode at 11mm and a mode at 18mm at the right-hand side of the distribution. The prevalence of infection among children irrespective of BCG scar was estimated as 20.4% (95% CI 18.2—22.5%) and the ARTI was 3.9% (95% CI 3.5—4.3%). The corresponding figures were 21.1% (95% CI 18.3—23.8%) and 3.9% (95% CI 3.4—4.5%) among BCG scar-negative children and 19.0% (95% CI 15.4—22.5%) and 4.0% (95% CI 3.2—4.8%) among BCG scar-positive children. The findings of the present study show a high prevalence of tuberculous infection and high ARTI in this primitive ethnic group. There is an urgent need to further intensify tuberculosis control measures on a sustained and long-term basis in this area.

Keywords: Tuberculosis; Tuberculin tests; Prevalence; Cross-sectional survey; Population groups; India

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