Survey of tuberculous infection in schoolchildren in Bahrain

A tuberculin survey was carried out on young schoolchildren in Bahrain and the results are compared with those of a previous survey. In 1969, with the co-operation of the World Health Organisation, a sample tuberculin survey was carried out on all age groups; it was found that 55 of the 897 children 6-7 years of age showed positive reactions (6.1%). In 1981, 12 years later, this same age group was surveyed again. A total of 6151 children was tested, of whom 86 were positive reactors (1.4%). This decline in the rate of tuberculous infection, by 12% a year, is highly significant (P much less than 0.001). The survey also shows a significantly higher rate of tuberculin positive reactors amongst immigrant children than amongst native Bahrainis.