Childhood TB: Training Toolkit

It is estimated that there are more than half a million cases of tuberculosis (TB) in children occurring globally each year. In settings with a high overall incidence of TB, children can account for a large proportion (up to one-third) of all TB cases. As a consequence, TB is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children in TB endemic countries.

The focus is on the common challenges for diagnosis, treatment and prevention. It is often stated that the diagnosis of children is difficult. It is certainly difficult to confirm the diagnosis of TB in the majority of children with disease but the clinical diagnosis of TB in children can often be straightforward. It is often perceived that children with suspected TB disease or children in close contact with TB cases need referral to specialist paediatric services at central hospital level but this is not necessary for most cases. Therefore, the training material sets out to emphasize the management issues of the common cases in the usual scenario of presentation, not to replace the need for specialist referral and opinion.