Tuberculosis

Screening of young children for Tuberculosis is not practiced in the UK but there are National guidelines for screening contacts of cases to determine whether infection or disease is present. By combining an interview, tuberculin skin test and chest x-ray as appropriate infected or diseased individuals can be identified. Those who are found to have disease are treated with a six-month course of antibiotics. Children who have a strongly positive skin test but no evidence of disease are given a three-month course of preventive therapy to prevent infection from developing into disease.