title: Assessing capacity for diagnosing tuberculosis in children in sub-Saharan African HIV care settings.
abstract: Research on the prevalence of pediatric-specific tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. We assessed the availability of pediatric TB diagnostic tests at 651 pediatric human immunodeficiency virus care and treatment sites across nine African countries: 54% of  the sites had access to sputum culture capacity and 51% to chest X-ray services. While 87% of sites had access to smear microscopy, only 6% had the capacity to perform sputum induction and 5% to perform gastric aspirate. These findings confirm that diagnostic resources for the accurate diagnosis  of pediatric TB are limited. Capacity-building initiatives to improve sputum collection in children are urgently required.
authors.affiliation: Botswana University of Pennsylvania Partnership, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. michael.reid@doctors.org.uk
authors.forename: M J A
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fayorsey
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Abrams
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000293:Adolescent; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010372:Pediatrics; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*