A child with complicated Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with ever increasing resistance to commonly used antituberculous drugs. Drug-resistant TB was recognized shortly after the introduction of an effective therapy in the late 1940s, the use of streptomycin, which was the first widely used antituberculosis drug. Patients who received this drug usually had marked and rapid clinical improvement, but treatment failures were common after the first three months of therapy. Most children are infected by household contacts who have TB, particularly parents or other caretakers. Common symptoms of pulmonary TB in children include cough (chronic, without improvement for more than three weeks), fever (higher than 38 °C for more than two weeks), and weight loss or failure to thrive. Findings on a physical exam may suggest the presence of a lower respiratory infection, whereas the clinical presentation of extra pulmonary TB depends on the site of disease. The most common forms of extra pulmonary disease in children are TB of the lymph nodes and of the central nervous system. The role of inadequate treatment and poor compliance in the emergence of resistance highlights the importance of the DOT (Direct Observation Therapy) method in improving treatment outcomes and to control the spread of resistance.