Childhood Tuberculosis in Kermanshah, Iran, During 10 Years

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis in children still remains as one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological aspects of childhood tuberculosis in Kermanshah, Iran. Patients and Methods: Medical records of all 150 patients aged 0-18 in Kermanshah district who were diagnosed according to WHO criteria for 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. As well as presenting demographic and clinical aspects of patients, we calculated notification rate. Results: 35% of cases were male and 65% were female. Of total 150 tuberculosis cases, 56% were pulmonary and 44% were extra pulmonary. The most common symptoms were fever and cough. About 16% were asymptomatic. About 17% of patients had adult pulmonary tuberculosis in their families. The mean of the number of people living in a family (5.5) was similar in both pulmonary and extra pulmonary types. Except for year 2002, for all years the notification rate in girls was higher than that in boys. Over 10 years of study, the notification rate was 3.75/100,000 with no significant trend. Conclusions: Based on our results, rate of diagnosis seemed under the expected range, in particular in children under 5. Therefore, we recommend that authorities come up with programs that aim at raising awareness about the importance of diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis.