title: Recent upsurge of tuberculosis in paediatric admissions at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
abstract: These case reports describe the clinical course of eight children who were admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, between July 2000 and November 2001 because of a diagnosis of tuberculosis. This represented an increase in the incidence of the disease in children at this institution. The purpose of this report is to make healthcare workers aware of the resurgence of tuberculosis. The diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis is challenging and requires a high index of suspicion in the presence of suggestive clinical and laboratory findings. The diagnosis should not be limited to the immunocompromised patient, as in this report the majority of the patients were HIV negative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Child Health and Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. michelle.bartonforbes@uwimona.edu.jm
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thame
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Melbourne-Chambers
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gabay
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014900:West Indies / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents