[Management of tuberculous contact]

The diagnosis of tuberculosis in a person means that measures must be taken to prevent the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from source cases to healthy individuals. Tuberculosis needs to be rapidly identified, bacteriologically confirmed and treated. Contact tracing allows subjects to be found among close (home), regular (school, crèche, workplace), or occasional contacts. Besides clinical features, cutaneous tuberculin reactions and chest X-ray are the principal examinations that permit a decision to be taken regarding follow-up, chemoprophylaxis or BCG vaccination.