title: Clinical presentation of tuberculosis in culture-positive children. Pediatric Tuberculosis Consortium.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because tuberculosis (TB) in children implies recent infection, children serve as sentinels for disease transmission within a community. Despite the significance of diagnosing tuberculosis in children, most cases are diagnosed on clinical evidence rather than laboratory findings.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the demographic and clinical presentation of 156 children with culture proven tuberculosis using Epi-Info Version 6.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although the clinical characteristics of this population were generally consistent with those seen in previous studies, several unexpected results were observed. Boys were overrepresented in the group of very young children (72% < 1 year). Many of the children had coexisting diseases not known to predispose to TB (37%). Cavitation, usually observed in older children, was seen in four children < or = 1 year of age. Few children were homeless or HIV-infected, but many (42%) lived in female-headed households. Of the adult contacts at risk for TB, many (49%) were recent immigrants to the US. Overall 34% of the population was either foreign born or the children of recent immigrants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This series of 156 culture-positive children provides an understanding of the risk factors and clinical presentation of pediatric tuberculosis. The data emphasize the impact of the child's environment on the risk for tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. peggy_burroughs@smtplink.mssm.edu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burroughs
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beitel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Revai
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ricafort
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012307:Risk Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology