title: An evaluation of the completeness of reporting of childhood tuberculosis.
abstract: The sensitivity of the Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance (ETS) scheme for monitoring tuberculosis in children is unknown. We used the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) reporting scheme to conduct a prospective observational study of tuberculosis in children aged <16 yrs in the UK. Reported cases were then matched with records from the ETS database. A total of 320 cases were reported to the BPSU between January and December 2004. We estimated that there were 557 paediatric cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2004: 222 (40%) cases reported to both BPSU and ETS, 98 (18%) reported to BPSU but not ETS and 237 (42%) reported to ETS but not BPSU. Children aged <5 yrs were significantly less likely to be reported to ETS compared with older children (p<0.01). There is substantial under-reporting of childhood tuberculosis, especially of children aged <5 yrs. ETS provides a representative picture of the demographics but may miss approximately 20% of cases. This should be taken into account when planning training and resource requirements for tuberculosis. Increased efforts are needed to ensure that all paediatric cases are reported to ETS.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child Health, University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: S S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alfaham
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riordan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sonnenberg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharland
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moore-Gillon
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Novelli
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shingadia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008131:London; D009660:Northern Ireland; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D040442:Public Health Informatics / Q000379:methods; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014852:Wales
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents