Latent tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis in children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective:To describe the characteristics of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection.Methods:A retrospective study, between 2012 and 2015, with data from patients of Programa Einstein na Comunidade de Paraisópolis. To evaluate possible factors associated with patient's sex and diagnoses of tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection, χ2 or Fisher's exact tests were used for qualitative variables, and Mann-Whitney test for quantitative or ordinal qualitative variables.Results:A total of 77 patients were evaluated. Age ranged from 6 months to 13.4 years, with a majority of males (54.5%), aged zero to 4 years (54.5%), diagnosed with latent tuberculosis infection (64.9%), and classified as eutrophic (71.2%). The tuberculin test was positive in 92% and in most cases the values were above 10mm (68.0%). Approximately three-quarters of chest X-ray tests were normal (72.7%). After chest X-ray, computed tomography of thorax was the most ordered exam (29.9%), followed by smear and culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the gastric aspirate (28.6%). The frequencies of altered chest X-ray (70.4% versus 4.0%), computed tomography of thorax requests (55.6% versus 16.0%) and other tests requested (81.5% versus 38.0%) were significantly higher in patients with a diagnosis of tuberculosis, relative to those with latent tuberculosis infection, respectively.Conclusion:In our sample, proportions of altered chest X-ray, and performing computed tomography of thorax and other tests in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis were higher than in those with latent tuberculosis infection.

Characteristics of Pediatric Tuberculosis Patients at Simpang Lima Gumul Hospital, Kediri, East Java

“…Children who have been exposed to TB bacteria may develop latent TB infections, which means that they have the bacteria in their bodies but do not show any symptoms and are unable to spread the disease to others. But if their immune system is compromised, the bacteria may become active and result in TB disease [22].…”

Características da tuberculose entre crianças e adolescentes em um município da Amazônia Ocidental

“…Estudos apontam sobre a importância de acompanhar e controlar a alta carga da doença no público infantil, buscando medidas de diagnóstico e tratamento voltadas diretamente para essa população em especial, visando não apenas protegê-la, mas também prevenir a disseminação da doença na comunidade em que a mesma está inserida. Ressalta-se ainda a relevância de identificar o caso índice precocemente, que na maioria das vezes trata-se de um adulto familiar da criança, a fim interromper a cadeia de transmissão (Jenkins, 2016;Ishikawa et al, 2018).…”

“…Outro fator relacionado ao adoecimento desse público é o contexto social que os mesmos fazem parte, uma vez que os Determinantes Sociais de Saúde (DSS) estão intimamente ligados ao processo saúde-doença dos indivíduos, tais como desnutrição, condições de moradia com numerosos membros ocupando um mesmo espaço, muitas vezes dividindo cômodos pequenos, os quais quando associados favorecem a transmissibilidade e infecção pelo bacilo Mycobacterium tuberculosis, incluindo essa faixa etária específica (Ishikawa et al, 2018;Pinto & Freitas, 2018;Abreu et al, 2020).…”