Does helminth treatment reduce the risk of active tuberculosis in a cohort of children from high tuberculosis risk population who have been vaccinated with BCG at birth?
type: CreativeWork
description: [Background] Research in adults and older children has shown an association between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and helminth infection, with those infected with helminths at greater risk of tuberculosis. This association is believed to be on the basis that chronic helminth infection can result in a functional impairment of the immune response that is necessary to clear or control infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Elias et al. 2001; Rook et al. 2006; Fincham 2001). It is thus possible that the introduction of regular deworming programmes in a vulnerable population of children under the age of five years could assist their immune systems to ward off tuberculosis infection and reduce the risk of tuberculosis disease in such a population. A randomised controlled trial to compare two methods of administering bacille Camlette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination to newborns from a high tuberculosis risk population provided an opportunity to test this hypothesis in a sub-study. [Objective] The objective of this study is to determine if young children in a high-risk tuberculosis population who have been vaccinated with BCG at birth and have been treated for helminth infection are at lower risk of tuberculosis disease than children who have been vaccinated with BCG at birth but not treated for helminth infection. [Method] A case control study nested within a cohort recruited for a separate randomised control trial to compare two methods of administering BCG vaccination was carried out. Children who presented to their local clinic or hospital with symptoms of tuberculosis or a history of exposure to tuberculosis were admitted to a case verification (CV) ward for investigation of tuberculosis. Investigation of tuberculosis included a detailed history, including past helminth treatment, physical examination, tuberculin skin test, chest radiograph, gastric washing and induced sputum for culture of tuberculosis and clinical examination. A diagnostic algorithm was developed by specialis…
abstract: [Background] Research in adults and older children has shown an association between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and helminth infection, with those infected with helminths at greater risk of tuberculosis. This association is believed to be on the basis that chronic helminth infection can result in a functional impairment of the immune response that is necessary to clear or control infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Elias et al. 2001; Rook et al. 2006; Fincham 2001). It is thus possible that the introduction of regular deworming programmes in a vulnerable population of children under the age of five years could assist their immune systems to ward off tuberculosis infection and reduce the risk of tuberculosis disease in such a population. A randomised controlled trial to compare two methods of administering bacille Camlette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination to newborns from a high tuberculosis risk population provided an opportunity to test this hypothesis in a sub-study. [Objective] The objective of this study is to determine if young children in a high-risk tuberculosis population who have been vaccinated with BCG at birth and have been treated for helminth infection are at lower risk of tuberculosis disease than children who have been vaccinated with BCG at birth but not treated for helminth infection. [Method] A case control study nested within a cohort recruited for a separate randomised control trial to compare two methods of administering BCG vaccination was carried out. Children who presented to their local clinic or hospital with symptoms of tuberculosis or a history of exposure to tuberculosis were admitted to a case verification (CV) ward for investigation of tuberculosis. Investigation of tuberculosis included a detailed history, including past helminth treatment, physical examination, tuberculin skin test, chest radiograph, gastric washing and induced sputum for culture of tuberculosis and clinical examination. A diagnostic algorithm was developed by specialis…
author: Workman, Lesley
language: eng
date published: 2009
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:55Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Public Health and Family Medicine

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9315