The Tuberculin Test as a New Approach to the New Era of Tuberculosis Control

¹ Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor University College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, and Pediatrician in charge, City of Houston Children's Tuberculosis Hospital and Clinic.

1. We are in a new era of tuberculosis control, a period in which tuberculin testing is assuming a new significance. Because so few children are tuberculin positive today a positive reactor stands out as a warning signal indicating where tuberculosis is being spread and thus pinpointing the spot where intensive search for tuberculosis should be directed.

2. The advent of isoniazid has introduced a new approach to tuberculosis control; that is, prevention of tuberculous sickness by early drug therapy of primary tuberculosis. This calls for intensive tuberculin testing programs to seek out infected children in order to afford them the protection of modern drug therapy.

3. Family contact investigation is the most effective method of finding tuberculosis today. It must be carried out with every new case of tuberculosis found, whether it be a tuberculous adult or a tuberculin positive child.

4. For a thorough and systematic contact investigation the organized effort of health agencies and education of the public are essential.