Tuberculosis transmission among contacts: MYTH and REALITY

Tuberculosis has plagued mankind since the beginning of time. It has been estimated that one third of the people on the planet have been infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.The World Health Organization estimated that at least 180 million children aged less than 15 years were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis worldwide.The infection is almost exclusively transmitted through air from patients with pulmonary disease. The risk of transmission is greatest if the index case is sputum smear positive, and is directly proportional to the bacillary density in respiratory secretions.Children in contact with adult patients are at highest risk of getting infected, and hence contact screening is important for early detection of transmission of infection. This is of great value not only to detect infected individuals but for the community as a whole, because a child with tuberculosis represents recent and ongoing transmission of infection within the community.As pediatrician it is our duty to reach to the base of ice berg i.e. the children''s pool of tuberculosis lying in the siblings of family.