[A young boy with pulmonary tuberculosis]

Infectious pulmonary tuberculosis in young children is rare in the Netherlands. Young children with a tuberculosis infection are at high risk of developing miliary tuberculosis or tuberculous meningitis.

A 12-month-old boy of Turkish descent was brought to our hospital because of coughing present for a few weeks and fever for 10 days. Nine weeks previously the patient had visited family in western Turkey, where, as far as is known, he did not come into contact with anyone who had tuberculosis. A chest X-ray showed infiltration of the middle lobe. He did not recover with empirical treatment for community-acquired pneumonia. Because of treatment failure, tuberculin skin testing was performed, the result of which was positive. The boy fully recovered during tuberculostatic treatment. Open tuberculosis was subsequently confirmed in a family member in Turkey after the boy's visit.

In the event of pneumonia with an atypical course, testing for tuberculosis is justified, even if there is no or little likelihood of contact with a tuberculosis patient in the history.