[Incidence of childhood tuberculosis in southern Pontevedra (Spain)]

Background Epidemiological pattern of tuberculosis in Galicia is closer to that in developing countries than to that in Europe.ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to determine the incidence and development of childhood tuberculosis, to analyze its clinical presentation and to quantify accurate diagnoses of pulmonary tuberculosis.MethodsObservational descriptive retrospective study in children aged 0-14 years old admitted to the Tuberculosis Unit of Vigo from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1999.ResultsA total of 146 patients were included; 144 initial cases (98.63 %), one relapse (0.68 %), one withdrawal/recovery (0.68 %) and none with chronic disease or treatment failure. The incidence rate of tuberculosis showed no significant variations, changing from 46.08 x 5 in 1995 to 24.81 x 5 in 1998. The incidence rate was higher in younger children and was 111.38 x 5 in 1995 in children aged 0-4 years old. There were 78 boys (54.42 %) and 68 girls (46.75 %). A total of 51.36 % of the patients were from urban areas and 48.68 % were from rural areas. The most common location was the lung, with 132 cases (83.54 %). The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was accurate in 59 % of the patients and this percentage rose to 90.3 % in the group of patients aged 0-2 years old.ConclusionsIncidence of childhood tuberculous disease is high, especially in children aged 0-4 years old. A high percentage of diagnoses of pulmonary tuberculosis were accurate.