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Tuberculosis, rare in babies
La TB is an airborne disease caused by a bacterium: Koch’s bacillus. It mainly attacks baby’s lungs, but can also affect other organs. Very few young children are affected each year in France. If the baby has a fatty cough, fever, is tired, does not eat a lot and especially if he has not been vaccinated with BCG (the vaccine is no longer mandatory since 2007), it is nevertheless necessary to consider a TB.
What is tuberculosis in babies?
La TB is a contagious infectious disease caused by a bacterium: Koch’s bacillus. The TB is localized most of the time at the level of the lungs. Baby coughs, spits, has a moderate fever, is very tired and loses his appetite. But the TB can also attack the heart, urinary system, bones or cause meningitis.
La TB spread through the airways. After breathing bacteria emitted by an infected person, baby will have a primary infection. The bacteria of the TB will multiply in his lungs and cause a lesion called lung chancre. His immune system, helped by the vaccine, will fight the disease. Nine times out of ten, this primary infection will progress to a definitive cure. In rare cases the bacteria will multiply and can reach many organs such as the lungs, kidneys, bones or brain. This is then the tuberculosis disease ou active tuberculosis.
How is tuberculosis diagnosed in babies?
Primary infection with TB in babies goes most often unnoticed, the symptoms are not very marked most of the time. But if in doubt or if you know that a baby has approached someone with TB, you have to go see a doctor. He will auscultate the baby and check his cough, his temperature and ask you if he has been vaccinated with BCG. If suspected, he will order a chest x-ray to look for lung chancre and a tuberculin skin test. This test consists of an injection of bacilli from the TB which will cause, if it is positive, an induration of which the diameter exceeds 5 mm. It can also test for bacteria in the TB in baby’s sputum if he suspects a tuberculosis disease. He will then do other research, neurological in particular, to see if the bacteria has spread.
How to treat baby’s tuberculosis?
La TB is caused by bacteria, so it should be treated with antibiotics. The processing is quite heavy and long. We treat the TB by a combination of four different antibiotics for six months. If baby has the TB, then consider treating the whole family. The TB is very contagious since it is transmitted through the air.
The best prevention is the vaccine. It is no longer compulsory, but strongly recommended for children residing in Ile-de-France and Guyana or exposed to “a high risk”. Baby can be vaccinated at 1 month. After 3 months, it will first be necessary to verify by a tuberculin test that the baby has never been in contact with the TB.