title: Tuberculous infection in Saharia, a primitive tribal community of Central India.
abstract: 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 11 mm and a mode at 18 mm 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.
authors.affiliation: Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals, Indian Council of Medical Research, Nagpur Road, P.O. Garha, Jabalpur 482 003, India. drvgrao@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Gopi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadacharam
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bhat
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Subramani
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Anvikar
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasantha
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Bhondeley
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gadge
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Eusuff
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Shukla
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012423:Rural Health; D014374:Tuberculin Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*