Muhammad Faheem Afzal, Syed Muhammad Javed Iqbal, Anum Masood, Muhammad Ashraf Sultan, Asif Hanif.
Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) in Children Less than 12 Years of Age in a Tertiary Care Centre, Lahore, Pakistan.
Pak Paed J Jan ;41(4):207-10.

Background: Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) represents a substantial public health burden. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of LTBI in children by using Quanti FERON-TB Gold in-tube test (QFT-GIT) in children less than 12 years of age in a tertiary care centre, Lahore Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan, from July 2014 to June 2015. By non-probability convenient sampling, 250 children having contact with a confirmed (sputum positive adult case of pulmonary TB) or suspected tuberculosis case (adult having fever and unremitting cough for 3 weeks) were included in the study. Presence or absence of BCG vaccination scar was documented. Diagnosed cases of TB were excluded. All children were subjected to QFT-GIT for evidence of LTBI. Each child was treated according to the individual merit (prophylaxis was offered to positive cases). Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 mean for continuous variables and frequencies for categorical variables were used to summarize the data. Results: A total of 250 children under 12 years were enrolled. Mean age was 6.48 ± 2.97 years. Among 250, 136 (54.4%) were male and 114 (45.6%) were female. Out of 250, 75 (30%) of children were found to be positive QFT-GIT test. When data was analyzed for BCG scar and QFT-GIT positivity, it was found that 8.4% vaccinated male & 10% vaccinated female were affected, whereas 17.6% of children less than 5 years were having LTBI. Conclusion: The frequency of latent tuberculosis infection in children less than 12 years of age is 30%. It is need of time to screen each child for LTBI who has close contact with adult case of TB in developing countries like Pakistan.

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