EVALUATION OF PEDIATRIC TUBERCULOSIS INCI DENCE IN BASSE-NORMANDY

In France, the children's occurence rate of tuberculosis is very low. However between 1992 and 1993 it has increased from 4.2 to 4.7 per 100 000 children. In order to evaluate datas provided by the system of ep idemiologic monitoring for infection diseases, it is necessary to dete rmine the quality and completness of those. Datas produced by microbio logic laboratories when are linked with a surveillance system allow to evaluate incidence by the capture-recapture method (statistical estim ate of incidence based on two independant sources with exclusion of co mmon cases). The survey conducted in Basse-Normandy covered years 1992 and 1993 and the first 6 months of 1994. In Basse-Normandy the result s of the mandatory notification records for tuberculous children under 15 years old provided an incidence rate of 0.82 for 100 000; general results of medical analysis laboratories give a rate of 1.1 for 100 00 0 and 1.51 when one applies the principle of capture-recapture (CI rat e 95 % : 1.1 to 1.35). Based on these results, the rates of pediatric completness of mandatory notification records in Basse-Normandy range from 40 to 80 %. However those results are only part of the problem on pediatric tuberculosis since they do not include tuberculosis infecti on which are not identified by the mandatory notification records.