Abstract :
The global annual incidence of tuberculosis is 9.6 million to which India contributes 2.2million cases. Continued detection of childhood TB to the tune of half a million cases per year indicates ongoing transmission at a higher rate in India, coupled with problems of malnutrition, HIV, poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness, poor detection rate, noncompliance, apathy, so on and so forth. TB in children is often extra-pulmonary unlike adults. The subtle symptoms and signs, variable presentations make it difficult to diagnose at grass root level in the community due to lack of experience among general practitioners, besides poor facilities for early detection and treatment. The whole gamut of childhood tuberculosis – clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects has been updated in this review.
Keyword :
Pediatric tuberculosis, Latent TB, Extrapulmonary TB, Mantoux test, Gastric aspirate, AFB, GeneXpert, AKT, HIV