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Published on: September 14, 2011
Sensitivity and specificity of BCG scar reading among HIV-infected children
Joaquim Carlos Vicente Dias Van-Dunem1, Luiz Cláudio Arraes de Alencar, Laura Cunha Rodrigues
1Departamento de Pediatria, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Av. Amilcar Cabral, s/n, Maianga, Luanda, Angola. jcvandunem@hotmail.com
Abstract:
BCG scar has been used as an indicator of vaccination with BCG in the past, but the validity of scar among HIV-positive children is still unknown. The validity of BCG scar reading among such children was estimated, using three different gold standards. The sensitivity ranged from 81.3% (95%-CI: 78.0-84.2) to 91.6% (95%-CI: 88.4-94.0), when the gold standards were, respectively, information from the adult responsible for the child and the vaccination card. The specificity ranged from 90.5% (95% CI: 81.6-95.5) to 94.1% (95% CI: 87.7-97.4), when the gold standards were, respectively, the vaccination card and information from the adult responsible for the child. Reading of BCG scar was shown to be a good indicator for vaccination in the past, among HIV-infected children.
