Clinical backgrounds of six cases of childhood tuberculosis

Clinical backgrounds of six children who entered Matsue National chest Hospital due to pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous pleuritis were investigated and the following results were obtained. 1) Of six children five had not received BCG vaccination. 2) There were two children who developed tuberculosis after the completion of chemoprophylaxis. 3) None was detected by the examination of the household of the source cases. 4) Both patients and doctors were responsible for the delay in detecting the source, which ranged between five and seventeen months in total. 5) Among the source cases there were two patients who were smear-negative but culture-positive. In view of the above observations it is suggested that BCG vaccination is important for the prevention of tuberculosis in children and that follow-up examinations should be continued after the completion of chemoprophylaxis. It should also be emphasized that early detection of the source case is imperative for the prevention of tuberculosis.