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Pediatric Tuberculosis in Italian Children: Epidemiological and Clinical Data from the Italian Register of Pediatric Tuberculosis

Authors :
Luisa Galli
Laura Lancella
Chiara Tersigni
Elisabetta Venturini
Elena Chiappini
Barbara Maria Bergamini
Margherita Codifava
Cristina Venturelli
Giulia Tosetti
Caterina Marabotto
Laura Cursi
Elena Boccuzzi
Silvia Garazzino
Pier Angelo Tovo
Michele Pinon
Daniele Le Serre
Laura Castiglioni
Andrea Lo Vecchio
Alfredo Guarino
Eugenia Bruzzese
Giuseppe Losurdo
Elio Castagnola
Grazia Bossi
Gian Luigi Marseglia
Susanna Esposito
Samantha Bosis
Rita Grandolfo
Valentina Fiorito
Piero Valentini
Danilo Buonsenso
Raffaele Domenici
Marco Montesanti
Filippo Maria Salvini
Enrica Riva
Icilio Dodi
Francesca Maschio
Luisa Abbagnato
Elisa Fiumana
Chiara Fornabaio
Patrizia Ballista
Vincenzo Portelli
Gabriella Bottone
Nicola Palladino
Mariella Valenzise
Barbara Vecchi
Maria Di Gangi
Carla Lupi
Alberto Villani
Maurizio de Martino
Source :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 17, Iss 6, p 960 (2016)
Publication Year :
2016
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2016.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the last decades, TB has also emerged in the pediatric population. Epidemiologic data of childhood TB are still limited and there is an urgent need of more data on very large cohorts. A multicenter study was conducted in 27 pediatric hospitals, pediatric wards, and public health centers in Italy using a standardized form, covering the period of time between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012. Children with active TB, latent TB, and those recently exposed to TB or recently adopted/immigrated from a high TB incidence country were enrolled. Overall, 4234 children were included; 554 (13.1%) children had active TB, 594 (14.0%) latent TB and 3086 (72.9%) were uninfected. Among children with active TB, 481 (86.8%) patients had pulmonary TB. The treatment of active TB cases was known for 96.4% (n = 534) of the cases. Overall, 210 (39.3%) out of these 534 children were treated with three and 216 (40.4%) with four first-line drugs. Second-line drugs where used in 87 (16.3%) children with active TB. Drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were reported in 39 (7%) children. Improving the surveillance of childhood TB is important for public health care workers and pediatricians. A non-negligible proportion of children had drug-resistant TB and was treated with second-line drugs, most of which are off-label in the pediatric age. Future efforts should concentrate on improving active surveillance, diagnostic tools, and the availability of antitubercular pediatric formulations, also in low-endemic countries.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14220067
Volume :
17
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.4c2ccd4ac6d54616a2b24177ff5e4a72
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17060960