Rastreio de conviventes. Análise da actuação de um Serviço de Tuberculose e Doenças Respiratórias (S.T.D.R.)**Trabalho apresentado, parcialmenmte, como comunicação, no 1a Congresso de Pneumologia do Norte, em 1994

SUMMARYIn Portugal, tuberculose (TB) remains a serious health problem, with an incidence rate of 55.8 in 1991.As the risk of transmission is mainly from the sputum positive TB cases, our efforts have to be directed towards an early diagnosis and a correct treatment of those cases.Contacts, as a group, are at a high risk. They are the most important on wich to focus preventive intervention.Working the authors in a Tuberculosis Unit in the Lisbon District, they proposed to evaluate their effectiveness on contacts investigation of pulmonary tuberculosis cases admitted between July 1992 and June 1993. In this period, 275 patients with TB were admited, 152 (55.3%) with pulmonary tuberculosis. The confirmation rate was of 84.2% of 131 index cases, we identified 441 contacts (3.3 contacts/index case).Three hundred and forty five attended the investigation (78.2%). The mean time elapsed between consultation of the index case and the investigation of the contacts was of 18.3days.Tuberculosis disease was diagnosed in 9 contacts (2.6%,) and tuberculosis infection in 33 (9.6%.).The results of both situations are discussed in detail. As conclusions, among others, we can say there was a good participation of the contacts, the importance of their investigation in the detection of tuberculosis disease and infection and the need to prolong the surveilance of the contacts