http://pmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/79/931/272

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Collections under which this article appears: Tuberculosis Other Pediatrics

Postgraduate Medical Journal 2003;79:272-278
© 2003 Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
 

Paediatric tuberculosis

W Hoskyns

Correspondence to:
Dr Wren Hoskyns, Leicester General Hospital, Gwendolen Road, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK;
debra.delbridge@uhl-tr.nhs.uk

ABSTRACT
Children are important in the epidemiology of tuberculosis as a marker of recent disease transmission and a reservoir for the future. Once infected they have a higher risk of progressing to tuberculous disease. Chest radiography and tuberculin testing with or without tissue for culture are still the standard tools for confirming the diagnosis once this is considered. Well researched treatment protocols are available but multidrug resistant tuberculosis and coexistent HIV are a challenge. Ensuring compliance with treatment is a major concern. Controversy still surrounds the place of BCG. Advances in the molecular genetics of tuberculosis hold out the possibility of better vaccines.

Keywords: tuberculosis; childhood tuberculosis; tuberculin; BCG

Abbreviations: DOT, directly observed therapy; TU, tuberculin unit

Copyright © 2003 The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.