Assessing capacity for diagnosing tuberculosis in children in sub-Saharan African HIV care settings

Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2012 Jul;16(7):924-7. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.11.0816. Epub 2012 May 7.

Abstract

Research on the prevalence of pediatric-specific tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. We assessed the availability of pediatric TB diagnostic tests at 651 pediatric human immunodeficiency virus care and treatment sites across nine African countries: 54% of the sites had access to sputum culture capacity and 51% to chest X-ray services. While 87% of sites had access to smear microscopy, only 6% had the capacity to perform sputum induction and 5% to perform gastric aspirate. These findings confirm that diagnostic resources for the accurate diagnosis of pediatric TB are limited. Capacity-building initiatives to improve sputum collection in children are urgently required.

MeSH terms

  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / diagnosis*
  • Adolescent
  • Africa South of the Sahara
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diagnostic Tests, Routine
  • HIV
  • HIV Infections / complications
  • Health Resources / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification*
  • Pediatrics
  • Sputum / microbiology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Tuberculosis / diagnosis*