[Drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children under 15 years]

Tuberculosis is a widespread and increasingly important infectious disease. A third of the world-wide population is infected. Every year nine million cases occur in the world, one million of them appearing in children under 15 years old. In Colombia alone, 719 cases were reported for the year 2008.

The incidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant forms was characterized in children under 15 years old in Colombia.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug susceptibility test data from 2001 to mid year 2009 were analyzed at the Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, Colombia. Cases were evaluated by patient age, disease geographic location, and type of sample, as well as the proportions of TB/HIV coinfections and drug resistance.

Of the 128 patients examined, 66 were female (52%) and 62 were male (48%). The age group 0 to 5 years old consisted of 59 cases (46%), 21 cases were 6 to 10 years old (16%) and 48 cases 11 to 14 years old (37.5%). The types of disease were 89 (69.6%) pulmonary, 34 (26.4%) extrapulmonary, and 5 (3.9%) cases without data. TB/VIH coinfection cases were 7(5.4%). 123 (96%) untreated cases and 5 (2.34%) cases previously treated. Global resistance among the untreated cases was 21.1% and MDR-TB was 6.5%.

This analysis demonstrated weaknesses in following established procedures in the TB treatment process, thereby impeding the diagnosis and the identification of drug resistance s in children under 15 years old. Approaches to improving treatment standards is a topic which requires further exploration.