Publication:

Epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic characteristics of tuberculosis in adolescents

Background Though the risk of tuberculosis is expected to increase during adolescence, the exact burden of the disease in this age group is often underrepresented and understudied in literature.

Methods We did a retrospective analysis of hospital records of adolescents aged 10-19 years admitted with tuberculosis at Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai between January 2014 and March 2022, after ethical board clearance.

Results Out of 54 cases, 42 were in the young adolescent group and 12 belonged to the older adolescent group. Sex distribution showed slightly higher incidence in females (55.6% vs 44.4%). Fever was the most common presenting complaint (72.2%) followed by loss of weight (51.9%) and cough (48.1%). Out of total 54 cases, 16 were pulmonary TB, 28 were extrapulmonary and 16 were disseminated. Consolidation was the predominant radiological feature (31.48%) followed by mediastinal lymphadenopathy (25.92%) and cavity (16.66%). Cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test was positive in 68.5% of the cases while smear was positive only in 9 cases (16.7%) and histopathology positive in 5 cases (9.2%).

Conclusions Adolescent tuberculosis occurs mostly in the young adolescent group. This group should be recognized as a key risk period and not clubbed in with childhood.