Assessing capacity for diagnosing tuberculosis in children in sub-Saharan African HIV care settings
Reid, M.J.A.; Saito, S.; Fayorsey, R.; Carter, R.J.; Abrams, E.J.
International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease the Official Journal of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 16(7): 924-927
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1815-7920 PMID: 22583761 DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.11.0816Document Number: 572960
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.