Survey on primary tuberculosis in Gironde (France).

French official statistics do not mention primary tuberculosis and data on its prevalence are rare, despite the fact that the annual number of cases o f primary tuberculosis is a clear indicator of the progression or regressio n of what remains an endemic disease in Europe. In order to collate information oil the subject, a questionnaire was sent t o 132 doctors practising in Gironde. These included pulmonologists, pediatr icians and child health doctors. One hundred and one questionnaires were re turned, listing a total of 18 cases of primary tuberculosis for the first h alf of 1997. Children were more often affected by the disease and presented a latent Sonn. In 61% of cases, patients infected had not previously recei ved BCG vaccination and in 56% of cases the infectious patient was identifi ed Furthermore, 4 of the non-vaccinated patients had been in close contact with air infectious patient and 3 patients among these should have been vac cinated since they were living in community structures. The 2 symptomatic c ases reported occur-red in non-vaccinated adults. This study was of limited scope and duration but provides interesting infor mation on the population affected Dy primary tuberculosis. These results un derline the necessity of maintaining a high level of BCG vaccination amongs t children and adults in community structures if we wish to lower the preva lence of the disease in France.