The Public Health Service of the Local Health Authority has received a report of a case of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in a young minor attending a school in Carpi. As required by the infectious disease prophylaxis protocols, the service immediately started the procedures required for the identification and health surveillance of people who had come into close contact with the young man and communication to the families involved. In fact, in countries where tuberculosis is not widespread, such as Italy, action is taken with the early diagnosis of cases and the control and correct treatment of contacts when necessary.
The Community Paediatrics and the Public Hygiene Service then informed the school attended by the minor and organized a meeting to provide the identified recipients with the necessary information on the disease and on the planned prophylactic interventions. In particular, in this specific case, only the parents of the classmates and the teachers of the class attended were invited to the meeting, i.e. the so-called close contacts of the case.
The meeting illustrates the ways in which the initial checks are carried out and what the subsequent investigations could be. The public health doctor, following national guidelines and regional indications, based on the characteristics of the patient’s disease, the intensity and duration of exposure, as well as the results of the tests carried out, will be able to recommend to contacts a pharmacological prophylaxis that allows you to protect yourself from pathology.