Tuberculosis in pregnancy: the challenges for South Asian countries

Despite tuberculosis (TB) being a global problem, maternal TB remains an unrecognized and underestimated tragedy, especially in South Asian countries. Therefore, we performed a non-systematic review regarding implications of maternal TB on obstetric and perinatal outcomes in the South Asian context.

We reviewed original studies, both descriptive and analytical, that originated from South Asian countries following an electronic search supplemented by a manual search. Although relevant studies from developed countries were reviewed, they were not included in the tabulation process because those studies had different socioeconomic/epidemiological background.

Diagnosis of TB is often delayed during pregnancy, because of its non-specific symptoms, and overlapping presentation with other infectious diseases. Poverty, undernutrition, lack of social support and poor health infrastructure along with complications of TB and need for prolonged medications lead to increased maternal morbidity and mortality. Maternal TB in general (except lymphadenitis), is associated with an increased risk of small-for-gestational age, preterm and low-birthweight neonates, and high perinatal mortality. These adverse perinatal outcomes are even more pronounced in women with advanced disease, late diagnosis, and incomplete or irregular drug treatment. There could be a synergy of TB, socioeconomic and nutritional factors, which might have contributed to adverse perinatal effects, especially in low-income countries.

As active TB poses grave maternal and perinatal risks, early, appropriate and adequate anti-TB treatment is a mainstay for successful pregnancy outcome. The current knowledge gaps in perinatal implications of maternal TB can be addressed by a multicenter comparative cohort study.