Tracing the Children in Contact of Sputum Smear Negative Adults is the Need of the Hour to Achieve WHO “Stop TB Strategy”

Abstract

Tuberculosis has been a public health issue affecting a large number of population world wide. 1According to 2019 report, approximately 10 million of people fell ill by the disease around the globe. A considerable proportion of TB affected cases is constituted by paediatric patients solely. The WHO estimates that about 1 million children endure the disease each year of which a significant figure harbours the latent form of infection. Since, the accurate diagnostic test to confirm the tuberculosis in children has not been unrolled, a positive history of contact is regarded as the foremost feature for authenticating the diagnosis in children. A large proportion of children with tuberculosis lives under the same roof with sputum smear positive adults, tracing out the childhood TB cases in sputum smear negative contacts is equally important and needs to be diagnosed timely. This category of children left undiagnosed acts as a pool for further transmission of the disease from where new TB cases arise. Therefore, the early diagnosis of children of this group is the need of the hour and a challenge to “STOP TB Strategy”.