Epidemiological characteristics of children hospitalized for tuberculosis

Pereira Rossell Hospital Center (2010-2013)

Abstract

Introduction: tuberculosis is still a public health issue around the world. In Uruguay, the number of adults and children with tuberculosis has increased in the last years. The yield of different diagnostic methods is low in children, and thus its diagnosis in children under 5 years old is a great challenge.
Objective: to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics in children hospitalized due to tuberculosis at the Pereira Rossell Hospital Center.
Method: the study consisted of a retrospective description of children under 15 years old who were discharged from the Pereira Rossell Hospital Center from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2013 with a diagnosis of tuberculosis. The epidemiological characteristics, the forms of clinical presentation and evolution are described in the study.
Results: during this period, 64 children were discharged with tuberculosis, a global rate of 15.4/10.000 discharges. Most of them were healthy children under 5 years old. Some kind of contact was identified in 73.4% of patients. Pleuropulmonary tuberculosis was the main form of clinical presentation. Diagnosis was confirmed in 17 patients (26.5%), in all cases of disseminated tuberculosis and in three out of four children with extrapulmonary forms. The disseminated and extrapulmonary forms were associated longer hospitalizations and greater mortality rates.
Conclusions: in this series tuberculosis affected small healthy children, most of them with an identified contact. Diagnostic confirmation is a problem. The disseminated and extrapulmonary disease has high morbimortality rates.