Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine BCG vaccination rates, tuberculosis infection rates, annual risk of infection (ARI) and the extent of tuberculosis disease within recruits who are thought to reflect the young male population and geographic distribution of the country. Study was performed with 1051 recruits in June, 2005. All subjects answered a questionnaire, BCG scars were recorded, microfilm screening and tuberculin skin test (TST) with 5 tuberculin ünit purified protein derivative were applied. ARI was calculated by the obtained results. No active tuberculosis cases were determined. Of all subjects 85.7% were BCG vaccinated. Of the unvaccinated 56.5% were from the eastern region of the country. A significant correlation was determined between BCG scar numbers and TST values. TST results were evaluated by classifying the subjects into 3 groups as vaccinated, unvaccinated and all (with or without BCG) and cut-off values for positive TST reactivity were accepted as 5-10-15 mm respectively. While the infection ratio was 4,7% with the cut-off 15 mm, it was 45.5% when the cut-off was 5 mm. We found ARI 0.5%. Our results suggest that searching the symptoms or disease history for tuberculosis screening may not be useful for estimating the results beforehand within the recruits. Furthermore by the results we have seen that tuberculosis infection rates in young male adults are significantly high in our country and also there is a disorganization in BCG vaccination programme, especially in the eastern region, in our country.

Key words: tuberculosis, tuberculin, BCG, screening

Article Language: Turkish English