Reddened Mantoux reaction - norm or pathology?

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. On the contrary, the number of complications caused by improper technique of performing manipulations or the quality of medical preparations is increasing. For parents of children of all ages, the Mantoux reaction, the norm or lack thereof, becomes a huge problem every year - without the result of such diagnostics the child may not be admitted to children's 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, in which the microbial cells of mycobacterium tuberculosis are introduced into the body.

When Koch's bacillus enters the body - and is weakened, with a dose of BCG vaccination, and when TB is infected, the immune system begins to synthesize antibodies that must stop the spread of the infection. Accordingly, the Mantoux reaction, the norms of which do not depend on the patient's age, helps to detect these antibodies - in the skin with the introduction of substances, in the process of vital activity produced by the mycobacteria of tuberculosis, a specific inflammatory reaction develops. It is as a result of this that the first "button" is formed on the skin of the forearm, and then reddening, the size of which is taken into account as a result of the 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 takes place on the 2nd-4th day of life - before discharge from the maternity hospital the newborn child is vaccinated with BCG. After that, the body begins the synthesis of antibodies, designed to protect the host's body from the attack of active mycobacteria, capable of causing an active infection.

The problem is that the norm of the Mantoux reaction in the child is not the absence of redness at the injection site in general (as most parents think), but the redness, limited in area. If a child at the age of one year in a pediatric outpatient clinic makes this diagnostic test for the first time in his life and there is no hyperemia of the skin at the injection site, it is concluded that the vaccination was not carried out correctly and the immunity to Koch's stick did not form.

Each year this test is repeated, and the Mantoux reaction, 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, the test result itself is not important, but the moment of revealing the so-called bend of tuberculin samples. This term means that in the time that has elapsed since the previous performance of the Mantoux reaction, the mycobacterium tuberculosis has entered the patient's body, and a specific inflammatory process has begun in it.

Who is being tested Mantoux

Annually, at the same time of the year (the difference between the two tests should not exceed 13 months), each child aged 1 year and up to 17 years should be subjected to a Mantoux reaction. The norm, obtained after taking into account the results after 72 hours, makes it possible to identify candidates for repeated revaccination of BCG at 7 and 14 years of age. If a bend of tuberculin samples is detected, the child should be sent for consultation to a TB doctor who should prescribe an in-depth examination of a small patient.

But every parent of an underage child has the right to refuse to conduct a sample with tuberculin in the event that 2 weeks before the scheduled date the patient has transferred any infectious diseases, including acute respiratory disease, exacerbations of chronic pathological processes, allergic reactions. The test itself should be performed by a doctor or a specially trained nurse who should tell the child's child about the Mantoux trial and about the rules of skin care at the injection site.