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057
INCIDENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION IN A SOUTH INDIAN VILLAGE WITH A SINGLE SPUTUM POSITIVE CASE: AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CASE STUDY
MS Krishna Murthy, R Channabasavaiah, AV Nagaraj & P Chandrasekhar: Indian J TB 1991, 38, 123-30.

During a longitudinal survey, carried out in 119 randomly selected villages of Bangalore district for studying the time trend of tuberculosis, the average infectivity of a case over a period of one and a half years was found to be six. In 1986 i.e., 25 years after the start of I survey, 61 persons belonging to one village called Nunnur who were found newly infected between I & II surveys, were interviewed. Further, a general study of the layout of the houses and public facilities in the village was made. However, in Nunnur, there was just a single bacteriological case (index case) identified at the I survey. This index case was resident of household numbered 80 in the main village. This case study investigates the background of the observed high infectivity. The incidence rate of infection in Nunnur was 9.5% in 1½ years which is higher than the overall average rate of 4% as well as rate for 30 other single case villages i.e., 3.5%. The investigation reveals that at least 21 persons., found newly infected at II survey, had varying levels of contact with the index case. The remaining 40 infected persons could not be linked, either directly or indirectly, to any other known bacteriological case including the index case in the village. All the persons identified as infected at II survey were distributed throughout the village, beyond the likely zone of infection of the index case.

KEY WORDS: SINGLE CASE STUDY, INFECTIVITY, INCIDENCE, INFECTION, RURAL POPULATION.
 
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