Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Dec 9;11(12):1512.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens11121512.

Tuberculosis Infection in Children and Adolescents

Boris Tchakounte Youngui  1   2 , Boris Kevin Tchounga  2 , Stephen M Graham  3 , Maryline Bonnet  1
Affiliations
Review

Tuberculosis Infection in Children and Adolescents

Boris Tchakounte Youngui et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

The burden of tuberculosis (TB) in children and adolescents remains very significant. Several million children and adolescents are infected with TB each year worldwide following exposure to an infectious TB case and the risk of progression from TB infection to tuberculosis disease is higher in this group compared to adults. This review describes the risk factors for TB infection in children and adolescents. Following TB exposure, the risk of TB infection is determined by a combination of index case characteristics, contact features, and environmental determinants. We also present the recently recommended approaches to diagnose and treat TB infection as well as novel tests for infection. The tests for TB infection have limitations and diagnosis still relies on an indirect immunological assessment of cellular immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens using immunodiagnostic testing. It is recommended that TB exposed children and adolescents and those living with HIV receive TB preventive treatment (TPT) to reduce the risk of progression to TB disease. Several TPT regimens of similar effectiveness and safety are now available and recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Keywords: adolescents; children; tuberculosis infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Morrison J., Pai M., Hopewell P.C. Tuberculosis and Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Close Contacts of People with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2008;8:359–368. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(08)70071-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Global Tuberculosis Report 2021. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2021.
    1. Martinez L., Cords O., Horsburgh C.R., Andrews J.R. The Risk of Tuberculosis in Children After Close Exposure: An Individual-Participant Meta-Analysis Including 137,647 Children from 46 Cohort Studies. Lancet Lond. Engl. 2020;395:973–984. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30166-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yerramsetti S., Cohen T., Atun R., Menzies N.A. Global Estimates of Paediatric Tuberculosis Incidence in 2013–19: A Mathematical Modelling Analysis. Lancet Glob. Health. 2022;10:e207–e215. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00462-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Global Tuberculosis Report 2020. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2020.

LinkOut - more resources