Factors of postembryonic ontogeny: relationship with the effectiveness of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis in children

Abstract

Background. A child’s body as a functional system is formed starting from the fetal period. Therefore, analysis of even distant in time situations allows to identify factors that affect the functioning of the child’s body in the present time and, possibly, the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis in children. Materials and methods. To study the presence of a correlation between factors of postembryonic ontogeny and the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis of tuberculosis in children, an analysis was carried out of 300 patients aged 0 to 17 years in the early period of primary tuberculosis infection, who underwent a 3-month course of chemoprophylaxis with isoniazid. The dynamics of shin sensitivity according to the Mantoux test with 2 tuberculin units was used as a criterion for the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis. Depending on the latter, the exa­minees were divided into two groups: a group with effective chemoprophylaxis (n = 200), in which the size of a wheal after the end of the course decreased by 4 mm or more, and a group with ineffective chemoprophylaxis, in which skin sensitivity to tuberculin increased or remained at the previous level or decreased in the size of a wheal by 3 mm or less. Results. The analysis showed that in the group with ineffective chemoprophylaxis compared to the alternative group, the following occurred significantly more often: short-term (up to 4 months) breast feeding, a history of acute bronchitis (p < 0.001) in a child, acute obstructive bronchitis. In addition, the following were characteristic of this group: the presence of tuberculosis contact (p < 0.001), tuberculosis contact with a patient with confirmed bacterial excretion (p < 0.001), age of child under 6 years (p < 0.001), the number (two and more) of concomitant pathologies (p < 0.001), a single BCG vaccination (p < 0.001), as well as the winter seasona­lity of chemoprophylaxis (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Significant correlations have been found between many factors of postembryonic ontogeny and the effectiveness of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis in children, which allows them to be used for prognostic purposes. The closest connections with the effectiveness of chemoprophylaxis of tuberculosis in children was revealed for the presence of tuberculosis contact (ϕ = 1.08; p < 0.001), especially with a patient with confirmed bacterial excretion (ϕ = 1.72; p < 0.001), as well as the number of concomitant pathologies in a child (ϕ = 0.70; p < 0.001) and manifestations of allergy (ϕ = 0.67; p < 0.001).

Keywords

• early period of primary tuberculosis infection
• effectiveness of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis
• children