Comparison of Diagnostic BCG and Mantoux Tests in the Early Detection of Tuberculosis in Children

Objective: To compare the proportion of positive cases detected by BCG diagnostic and Mantoux test in patients scoring >= 7 on modified Keith Edward's criteria. Patients and methods: This was a Cross sectional study conducted in Paediatric Department Unit-I, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta from November 2003 to 2004. Two hundred children aged 015 years having tuberculosis on the basis of Kenneth Edwards Criteria were included in this study. They were divided into two equal groups of 100. Patients in group A were administered BCG diagnostic and group B Mantoux test and results were read after 48-72 hours. Results: Out of 200 cases128 (64%) were male and 72 female (36%). BCG diagnostic was positive in 71% and Mantoux test in 24% of cases, so total BCG diagnostic positivity was more than Mantoux. BCG diagnostic was found to be statistically significant. Among males 41 (54.2%) and females 30 (42.3%) were BCG diagnostic positive. BCG diagnostic was positive in 42(59.5%) in 1-5 year, 19 (43.1%) in 6-10 year and 10 (38.4%) in1-15 years old. The sensitivity of Diagnostic BCG was 71 %( 95% CI 64-77%) while the sensitivity of Mantoux test was 24% (95% CI 18-30). The odds ratio was 7.75 (95% CI 4.96-12.10) with a p value of < 0.01. Conclusion: BCG diagnostic was more helpful than Mantoux test. This study shows BCG diagnostic was more sensitive than Mantoux in detection of tuberculosis allergy.