Isoniazid treatment in children and comparison of tuberculin skin test values before and after treatment

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the six-month isoniazid treatment and to compare Tuberculin Skin Test values before and after treatment in children with tuberculosis contact and latent tuberculosis infection. Material and Method: The study included children older than 1 month and younger than 18 years of age who were started on isoniazid prophylaxis. In the treatment of latent TB infection, isoniazid was planned for six months. After the treatment, the tuberculin skin test was reapplied to all patients. Results: A total of 106 pediatric patients (25.6%) with tuberculosis contact and 81 (76.4%) with latent tuberculosis infection were included in this study. The mean pre-treatment tuberculin skin test value of the patients was 16.57 4.124 mm and 15.07 4.017 mm after treatment. The average tuberculin skin test values before and after treatment were found to have a 1.5 mm difference and the tuberculin skin test values after treatment were found to be lower (t = 3.5, p <0.01). However, the number of patients who had increased, unchanged or decreased less than five millimeters tuberculin skin test values after treatment was 80 (75.5%), and the ratio of those with a reduction of five mm and more was only 24.5%. Discussion: In previous studies, it has been concluded that isoniazid prophylaxis is effective in the prevention of tuberculosis and tuberculin skin test cannot be used to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection. Recently, studies on the effectiveness of the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection and new diagnostic tests have become prominent, and we think that our study may draw attention to this issue in our country. It was concluded that tuberculin skin test is not adequate in evaluating the efficacy of treatment, the compliance with the six-month isoniazid treatment in children is good, and the treatment is well tolerated and effective.