[Anti-BCG titers of healthy and tuberculous Africans. Use of the indirect immunoperoxidase test].

This study was intended to assess the presence of antibodies to BCG: immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) in three homogenous african populations: 76 tuberculous patients, 55 adult healthy subjects and 46 newborn. We have used an indirect immuno-peroxidase reaction. Tuberculous patients were clearly distinguished from the other two groups by raised IgG titres, associated with severe clinical and radiological features. In the control population, the IgG anti-BCG were also present, but to a lesser degree. The IgM anti-BCG were seen in high titres (greater than 20 in this study) in healthy adults and patients. The two populations differed significantly (p less than 0.001), nevertheless some healthy adults achieved IgM titres comparable with tuberculous patients. This simple test could be an interesting contributory factor in cases of diagnostic difficult and enables a serological assessment of patients having BCG therapy.