Incomplete registration and reporting of culture-confirmed childhood tuberculosis diagnosed in hospital

Summary In the last five years, childhood tuberculosis (TB) has received increasing attention from international organisations, national tuberculosis programmes, and academics. For the first time, a number of different groups are developing techniques to estimate the burden of childhood TB. We review the challenges in diagnosing TB in children and the reasons cases in children can go unreported. We discuss the importance of an accurate understanding of burden for identifying problems in programme delivery, targeting interventions, monitoring trends, setting targets, allocating resources appropriately and providing strong advocacy. We briefly review the estimates produced by new analytical methods, outline the reasons for recent improvements in our understanding, and potential future directions. We conclude that while innovation, collaboration and better data have improved our understanding of childhood TB burden, it remains substantially incomplete.

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“…Unfortunately, a large but unknown number of children are treated for TB but are not registered with the NTP. 9,10 …”

Section: Challenges To Estimating the Burden Of Childhood Tuberculosismentioning

confidence: 99%

Counting children with tuberculosis: why numbers matter

Seddon

Jenkins

Liu

et al. 2015

int j tuberc lung dis

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“…Most estimates use the number of reported pediatric cases as the starting point to estimate the burden. In many countries, not all children started on treatment are reported to the National TB Program 112. Some children are simply missed, and in other countries, only confirmed cases are reported.…”

Section: Global Burdenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology and disease burden of tuberculosis in children: a global perspective

Seddon

Shingadia

2014

IDR

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Our understanding of the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in children is incomplete due to challenges in diagnosis and reporting. Children have also been largely excluded from research and advocacy. However, the tide appears to be turning and interest in pediatric TB is increasing. In this article, we explore the epidemiology of childhood TB by first reviewing the natural history of TB in children and the factors that impact on each of the stages from exposure to disease. We then discuss how these factors affect what we see at a country and regional level. Finally, we assess the burden of childhood TB globally.

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“…Table 1 summarizes key differences between adults and children with TB. Poor case ascertainment and incomplete recording and reporting limit the accuracy of disease burden estimates in children (Newton et al 2008;Du Preez et al 2011;Rose et al 2013). According to the most recent estimates, nearly 1 million children develop TB every year (Jenkins et al 2014); this is nearly double World Health Organization (WHO) estimates of 530,000 cases for 2012, causing 74,000 deaths, which exclude deaths in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -infected children (World Health Organization 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%