title: Laboratory Diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection and Disease in Children.
abstract: Diagnosis of tuberculosis in children is challenging; even with advanced technologies, the diagnosis is often difficult to confirm microbiologically in part due to the paucibacillary nature of the disease. Clinical diagnosis lacks standardization, and traditional and molecular microbiologic methods lack sensitivity, particularly in children. Immunodiagnostic tests may improve sensitivity, but these tests cannot distinguish tuberculosis disease from latent infection and some lack specificity. While molecular tools like Xpert MTB/RIF have advanced our ability to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis and to determine antimicrobial resistance, decades old technologies remain the standard in most locales. Today, the battle against this ancient disease still poses one of the primary diagnostic challenges in pediatric laboratory medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA jjdunn@texaschildrens.org.|Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Starke
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.|Department of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA.|Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Paula A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Revell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*