Do Mantoux?
It's no secret that in many of our familiesformed a negative attitude towards the universal vaccination of children from birth. Now in the overwhelming majority of cases parents themselves, and not medical workers, decide whether to make Mantou to their child or not.
Tuberculin test - what is it
At present, the Mantoux reaction (tuberculin test) is a relatively reliable and informative preventive test of diagnosing children for tuberculosis.
The test is based on evaluating the reaction of the immune system, when a specific drug such as tuberculin is injected into the body.
The Mantoux test is used to identify teenagers andchildren who need to be re-injected from tuberculosis, and also those who have already become infected with the causative agent of this disease. Parents who decide for themselves whether to make a child Mantoux or not, should know that it is impossible to diagnose "tuberculosis" on the basis of the results of this reaction alone. For a complete picture, additional tests and studies are needed.
How is the Mantoux test evaluated
The test for tuberculin begins to do to children, whenthey are 1 year old. This procedure is carried out not more than once a year. Do Mantoux react twice a year? This happens only in special cases, and, then doctors have the right to insist on a re-examination. After all, the situation with tuberculosis in Russia is becoming more alarming year by year.
The first time from tuberculosis is vaccinated in the hospital. Repeated revaccination is prescribed at the age of 6 years and 14 years. In some cases, even at the age of 11, based on the Mantoux reaction.
An objective assessment of this reaction is also important. A check in children is carried out 72 hours after the test was performed. To evaluate the Mantoux reaction, a transparent ruler is used, which measures the transverse size of the papule (diameter or width of redness) in millimeters.
The reaction is considered positive if the papule has a size of 5 mm or more. There are degrees:
- the expressed degree is 15-16 mm.
- the average intensity is 10-14 mm.
- weak positive - 5-9 mm.
- very strongly pronounced - the size of the papule is 17 mm or more.
- doubtful - a papule 2-4 mm and reddening without condensation.
- negative - 0-1 mm, the papule is absent completely or only a prick is visible.
Contraindications for Mantoux test
Research on tuberculin is an extremely important and necessary procedure. All parents are obliged to know that it is strictly contraindicated to make a Mantoux test in the following situations:
- the child has not yet turned a year old;
- he has allergic conditions and skin diseases;
- there is rheumatism and bronchial asthma;
- periods when chronic diseases worsen;
- in a children's institution quarantine is declared.
In all these cases there can not be a dilemma - whether to make a mantle or not. Studies on tuberculin are strictly prohibited.
Reasons for the excitement of parents
With the help of research on tuberculin, you can find the onset of the disease in its latent form. In this case, talking about whether you need to do Mantoux, you can definitely answer - yes, if:
- you have relatives who are sick with tuberculosis, and the child had contact with them;
- your child has visited (stayed) in a locality where tuberculosis has a high prevalence among the population;
- the reaction to Mantoux in the child is annually and steadily increasing;
- there is a "turn" - the result of the sample jumped sharply, for example, for several years there was a result of 10 mm, and then for a year it increased by 5 mm and became 15 mm.
The main thing that parents should know about, thinking aboutis it necessary to do Mantoux, that it is not a vaccine at all. This is a specific test that helps to detect tuberculosis. And in our time, when this disease has become so widespread, it should not be neglected.
