Pediatric tuberculosis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the recommendations pertaining to infants, children, and adolescents in new and updated tuberculosis (TB) guidelines that have been published since 2010 - with emphasis on those from supranational organizations. RECENT FINDINGS: The main developments in the guidelines covered in this article are related to: novel diagnostics for TB infection, disease, and drug resistance; updated treatment regimens for childhood and drug-resistant TB (DR-TB); and primary and secondary prevention of TB disease in HIV-infected children and adolescents. SUMMARY: These new guidelines have significant implications for improving pediatric TB care. Regarding diagnosis, current interferon-gamma release assays should not replace tuberculin skin testing, but may be complementary; a polymerase chain reaction assay has been validated for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in microscopy-negative samples, especially in HIV-infected and DR-TB suspects; and a molecular line probe assay has been validated for detecting DR-TB in microscopy-positive samples and culture isolates in DR-TB suspects. With respect to treatment, there have been certain changes in the recent World Health Organization recommendations for certain clinical syndromes, for multidrug-resistant TB disease, and for HIV/TB disease. Concerning prevention, there are new screening algorithms for case finding, and new recommendations for treating HIV-infected children with presumed TB infection and with TB disease with treatment completed (i.e., secondary prophylaxis).