The Role of Risk Factors in the Development of Tuberculosis in Children Exposed to Rifampicin Resistant Tuberculosis

The objective: to identify factors of a higher risk to develop tuberculosis in children exposed to tuberculosis cases resistant or sensitive to rifampicin. Subjects 161 children under 6 years old exposed to tuberculosis in their families were enrolled in the retrospective study. The children were divided into 2 groups: Group 1 ( n = 92) – children free of TB; Group 2 ( n = 69) – children ill with TB. In each group, two subgroups were identified: those with index cases susceptible to rifampicin (RS) 1A ( n = 40) and 2A ( n = 43) and those with index cases resistant to rifampicin (RR) 1Б ( n = 52) and 2Б ( n = 26). Results. Exposure to isoniazid resistant tuberculosis increases the risk of TB in the child by 12 times, on the opposite, drug resistance to rifampicin provides no impact on the risk to develop tuberculosis. If the child is exposed to 2 cases of tuberculosis and more, the risk to develop tuberculosis increases by 2-14 times. BCG vaccination of the child exposed to tuberculosis reduces the risk to develop tuberculosis by 2-13 times.