Childhood tuberculosis: no longer an orphan disease?

Abstract

At the start of the twenty-first century, children were not regarded as important to tuberculosis (TB) programmes, as they were regarded as non-infectious and did not contribute to transmission and the rising TB epidemic. Members of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) held a different viewpoint and, in collaboration with the Desmond Tutu TB Centre, constituted a childhood TB working group in 2001 that developed and published position papers on the importance of childhood TB. Numerous partners joined the action, including international universities, the International Pediatric Association and funding bodies including the US National Institutes of Health and USAID. In 2003, the Stop TB Strategy established the Childhood Tuberculosis subgroup as part of the DOTS Expansion Working Group. This led to a flurry of activity that resulted in the first guidance for national tuberculosis programmes on the management of childhood tuberculosis (2006).1 Childhood TB was also included in the Union’s 2005 guide on cough and difficult breathing in children.2