Pulmonary tuberculosis in childhood and adolescence in Portugal

Abstract

Background: In 2011, it was estimated half a million cases and 64 000 deaths in children (age < 15) due to TB. Some authors state that the incidence of PTB inhildren is still poorly documented and discuss diagnosis challenges at such young ages. In order to better understand the transmission of PTB and to contribute for the PTB control among children and adolescents, we studied the delay in diagnosis (time between the firs symptoms and the diagnosis) and the number of PTB notii ed cases of children and adolescents between 2000 and 2010 in Portugal mainland. Design/methods: The data sources were the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System (SVIG-TB) and National Statistical Institute. We performed a descriptive and analytic study for PTB notified cases, using the variables: sex, age, level of PTB burden in residence area, HIV co-infection, number of previous treatments, type of diagnosis and delay in diagnosis. Classical statistic techniques and survival analysis methods were used to characterize the age groups.(...)