Tuberculin Test

Skin tuberculin test (Mantoux test with 2 TU) is the most important element of the annual screening diagnosis of tuberculosis infection, which allows identifying infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children and adolescents, as well as determining the presence of specific immunity to this infection after BCG vaccination (with a corresponding positive reaction).

Tuberculin is a bacterial extract of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is a specific antigen for this disease. When performing the Mantoux test, tuberculin is injected into the skin of the forearm and then, after the drug is absorbed, the size of the resulting hyperemia in mm is assessed. The diameter of the post-vaccination scar in healthy children usually does not exceed 5–7 mm, although in people with an initially hypersensitive reaction the hyperpapule can reach 20 mm or more. The presence of vesicles is regarded as a negative reaction.

Tuberculin tests or tuberculin test to determine whether the body is infected with tuberculosis has been widely used in medicine for more than 130 years, that is, since the 19th century. It was developed by the French bacteriologist and physician Albert Calmette (1820–1907) and the German Heinrich Cohn (1844–1915).

A tuberculin test is a way to study the strength of a person’s immunity by injecting tuberculin into the skin. This is a drug that is made from cow sticks. The vaccine contains the most dangerous of these bacilli, but without the diseases. They are not able to infect a person, but only activate the immune system or test it. Further, due to the increased content of the protein material of the pathogen, the test provides a positive reaction. People with increased immunity are sensitive to tuberculin. In people who are infected with a dangerous infection, the disease develops at lightning speed and with a high probability.

According to the Mantoux scale, the reaction of a sample can be different: weak, medium, high and very high. The scale level provides:

1.5 centimeters in diameter is a normal reaction. 2.5 centimeters - with such a reaction, a second check is carried out to clarify the diagnosis of skin tuberculosis. 5.0 centimeters - the presence of tuberculosis at a high stage. Treatment and examination by a doctor is recommended. from 12 and 17 millimeters in diameter or more - the appearance of the size of the tuberculin test means the development of intra-articular inflammation; observation by a veterinarian is important. Sizes are not taken into account if there are cuts or rashes on the child's skin. As the disease progresses, inflammation forms on the skin with pus and symptoms of malaise.