Not all children with nodular interstitial lung patterns in South Africa have TB—A rare case of paediatric “Bird Fanciers' disease”

Abstract

Bird Fancier's disease is an allergic alveolitis that is rare in children. We describe the relevance of adequate history for making the diagnosis in children and the difficulty distinguishing this entity on chest radiographs and CT from imaging patterns caused by infections such as tuberculosis and HIV in developing countries. Pediatr. Pulmonol. 2011; 46:1134-1136. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis: An infrequent cause of chronic lung fibrosis in Africa?

“…commonest cause of HP in Japan), [18] a single case of bird fancier's lung in a 12-year-old boy in the Western Cape, [19] and a single case (antigen not stated) in a series of 42 children in KwaZulu-Natal Province with chronic lung disease. [20] What makes chronic HP a particularly challenging diagnosis is that it is not always preceded by acute disease, which is more easily recognisable; standardised and validated antigen preparations and immunoassays for diagnosis are not available; cut-off values for quantitative immunoglobulin G assays have not been validated; and lymphocytosis on bronchoalveolar lavage is not always present.…”