Tuberculosis in Children Flashcards
Clinical stages of TB?
- tuberculosis exposure
- tuberculosis infection
- tuberculosis disease
Tuberculosis exposure?
- Tuberculin skin test (TST)orinterferon-γ release assay (IGRA)negative
- Normal CXR, physical examination; no signs/symptoms
Tuberculosis infection?
- Positive TST or IGRA result
- No signs or symptoms, normal physical examination, CXR either normal or has granuloma or calcifications
Tuberculosis disease?
Positive signs/symptoms/radiographic manifestations
Progression of infection to disease?
- primary infection progressively destructive
- liquefaction of the lung parenchyma
- formation of a thin-walled primary tuberculosis cavity
- bullous tuberculosis lesions
- rupture of the lesions
- pneumothorax
- erosion of a parenchymal focus of tuberculosis into a blood or lymphatic vessel
- Dissemination of the bacilli and amiliary pattern (small nodules evenly distributed on the chest radiograph)
Clinical features of tuberculosis?
- Nonproductive cough and mild dyspnea - most common symptoms
- Systemic complaints: fever, night sweats, anorexia, and decreased activity - less often
- Difficulty gaining weight / true failure-to-thrive
- Pulmonary signs - less common
- Localised wheezing or decreased breath sounds - Bronchial
Which age group experiences signs and symptoms the most?
infants
Note: most children with TB have pulmonary TB
Approach to diagnosis of TB in children?
- Careful history (history of TB contact and symptoms of TB)
- Clinical examination (including growth assessment)
- Tuberculin skin testing (if available)
- Chest X-ray (if available)
- Bacteriological confirmation whenever possible
- Investigations relevant for suspected pulmonary TB and suspected extra-pulmonary TB
- HIV testing
What kind of TB do children usually have?
pulmonary TB
What important to note about testing for TB?
- A trial of treatment with anti-TB medications is not recommended as a method of diagnosing TB in children.
- A negative Xpert MTB/RIF result does not exclude TB in children and a clinical decision should be made in all such cases.
- Exclusion of co-infection with HIV also has important implications because it often makes the clinical diagnosis of TB more straightforward.
Key risk factors for TB in children?
- Household or other close contact with a case of pulmonary TB (especially smear-positive or culture-positive pulmonary TB)
- Age less than 5 years
- HIV infection
- Severe malnutrition
- recent viral infection
e.g. measles, influenza, varicella
Physical signs highly suggestive of extra-pulmonary TB?
- Gibbus, especially of recent onset (resulting from vertebral TB)
- Non-painful enlarged cervical lymphadenopathy, +/- fistula formation
What is gibbus?
characterized byanterior collapse of one or more vertebral bodies resulting in kyphosis
Physical signs requiring investigation to exclude extrapulmonary TB?
- Meningitis not responding to antibiotic treatment, with a subacute onset and/or raised intracranial pressure
- Pleural effusion
- Pericardial effusion
- Distended abdomen with ascites
- Non-painful enlarged joints
What is the Mantoux tuberculin skin test?
consists of intradermal injection of tuberculin material which stimulates a delayed-type hypersensitivity response mediated by T lymphocytes and in patients with prior mycobacterial exposure
- causes induration at the injection site within 48 to 72 hours
Function of the tuberculin skin test?
- A positive TST indicates infection with MTB
- It does not indicate TB disease
- It measures immune response not the presence/absence of bacteria
- Can be used to assess children with suspected TB (esp. when there is negative TB contact)
- Can also be used to screen children exposed to TB
How do you perform the Mantoux tuberculin test?
injecting 0.1mL of liquid containing 5 TU (tuberculin units) PPD (purified protein derivative) into the top layers of skin of the forearm
- doctors should read skin tests 48-72 hours after injection
How do you know if TST is positive?
if a palpable induration is >10 mm or more in diameter irrespective of whether or not had BCG immunization
Note: only induration should be measured, not the surrounding erythema
TST and BCG vaccine?
because purified protein derivative of tuberculin is a mixture of proteins, some of which are expressed both by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and BCG
- so the TST could be positive because of BCG vaccination
A TST should be regarded as positive in which situations?
- In immunosuppressed (HIV-positive children, severely malnourished children, [marasmus or kwashiorkor]): >5 mm diameter of induration
- In all other children (whether immunized with BCG or not): >10 mm diameter of induration
Use of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) in TB?
- Blood-based tests
- Assess the response of T cells toantigens expressed byM. tuberculosisbut not by BCG
- Positive results therefore indicate TB infection rather than BCG vaccination
- A negative IGRA result does not reliably rule out TB infection
Can TST and IGRA differentiate between latent and active TB?
Neither IGRA nor the TST can distinguish between latent TB and active TB, so correlation with clinical signs and symptoms is required. As 20% of children with TB disease have a negative TST and/or IGRA, decision to treat is made on clinical and microbiological assessment
Diagnosing TB through bacterial confirmation?
- Spontaneous sputum samples(> 8 yrs old)
- Induced sputum samples(any age)
- Gastric washings
- Urine, lymph node tissue, CSF
- Culture
What are the specimens for microscopy and culture used for bacteriological confirmation?
- Sputum (expectorated or induced)
- Respiratory secretions in children are continually being swallowed and therefore can be sampled from the stomach using a nasogastric tube - Gastric aspirates
- Other specimens - depending on the site (e.g. lymph node biopsy)
- Fine-needle aspiration of enlarged lymph glands (for staining of acid-fast bacilli (AFB), culture and histology)