[Impact of cytomegalovirus infection on the course of tuberculosis in children and adolescents].

Sixty-five children and adolescents with respiratory tuberculosis were examined to determine the proportion of cytomegalovirus infection among patients with tuberculosis and its impact on the occurrence and course of different forms of tuberculosis. The number of children and adolescents infected with cytomegalovirus among the patients with respiratory tuberculosis (66.2%) was found to be three times more than that among those not infected with tuberculosis (21.0). The absolute majority (91.3%) of the examinees with the complicated course of a tuberculous process were carriers of cytomegalovirus. They were found to have both antigens and antibodies to cytomegalovirus 9 times more frequently than patients with the smooth course of tuberculosis, which is indicative of the activity of cytomegalovirus infection. The findings suggest that cytomegalovirus infection has an impact on the occurrence and pattern of a tuberculous process.