Search

In Madagascar, the estimated incidence of tuberculosis is high (320 per 100,000) when human immunodeficiency virus (VIH) infection progress slowly. The authors have studied HIV seroprevalence in a group of tubercular patients and in two reference groups (general population and outpatients of the Clinical Biology Centre of Institut Pasteur). Circulation of HIV1 virus was observed with a low prevalence rate in all the 3 groups. There was no significant difference between tubercular patients and healthy population. Tubercular people ought to be a watch group for the epidemiological surveillance of HIV infection evolution in Madagascar.

15 cases of human trypanosomiasis are reported. The patients did not travel previously through endemic areas, but all of them have stayed for a long duration in the Ouahigouya district lazaret. Never glossina were found in this district. This is suggesting a non conventional way of contamination, most likely mecanical transmission by hematophagous arthropodes. After COULM and FREZIL, the authors also raise the question of the importance of this possible mode of transmission in sleeping disease epidemiology.

A group of 122 observations of pediatric tuberculosis has been studied. Nurslings represented 34% of the group, children under 8 years old 75% and only 10% were above 12. The sex ratio was 1,1. In a statistically significant way, tuberculous children were less often immunized by BCG than reference children not infected by tuberculosis. Contact has been traced back to close family in 42% of cases. Weight loss was significant at diagnosis time and after treatment the difference with the reference group disappeared. Extrapulmonary localizations were less frequent with children under 2, pulmonary and extrapulmonary localizations associations could be observed with 14% of children under 2 and with 31% of the whole children developing a proved tuberculosis. The importance of bronchial fibroscopy has been pointed out, for it allowed to detect 30% of abnormalities and to prove the diagnosis of tuberculous in 25% of cases. It is regrettable that the National Tuberculosis Control Programme did not prescribe chemoprophylaxis of contact children in its routine instructions, yet it is well known that child tuberculosis is rarely contagious and is not considered a priority by a programme. Finally, the authors reported that the number of pediatric tuberculosis managed in the country showed an obvious underestimation of the problem and they hope this work would lead to think more frequently of that diagnosis in the future.