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Map the gap: missing children with drug-resistant tuberculosis

C M Yuen1, C A Rodriguez2, S Keshavjee3

  • 1Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA ; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Public Health Action
|September 25, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Published literature significantly underrepresents multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in children. This lack of data hinders advocacy for improved pediatric diagnostics and treatment for drug-resistant TB.

Area of Science:

  • Global Health
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pediatric Medicine

Background:

  • Limited published data on pediatric multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) impedes advocacy for better diagnostics and treatment.
  • Lack of recognition of MDR-TB and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) in children within scientific literature is a significant global health concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the underrepresentation of MDR-TB and XDR-TB in children within the published scientific literature.
  • To highlight the disparity in reporting between adult and pediatric cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature search conducted across countries reporting MDR- or XDR-TB cases by 2012.
  • Inclusion criteria focused on identifying published MDR- and XDR-TB cases in both adults and children.

Main Results:

  • Adult MDR-TB cases were reported in 78% of countries, while pediatric MDR-TB cases were reported in only 42%.
  • Adult XDR-TB cases were documented in 60% of reporting countries, contrasted with only 10% for pediatric XDR-TB cases.
  • A substantial gap exists in published data for pediatric drug-resistant TB compared to adult cases.

Conclusions:

  • The absence of publications on childhood MDR- and XDR-TB, where adult cases are reported, suggests exclusion from public health discourse.
  • This underrepresentation likely indicates underdetection of sick children with drug-resistant TB.
  • There is a large-scale lack of awareness regarding children affected by MDR- and XDR-TB globally.
Abstract

Keywords:
extensively drug-resistant tuberculosismultidrug-resistantpediatrictuberculosis

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