Under-Reporting of Tuberculosis Disease among Children and Adolescents in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Alexandra R Linn; Melanie M Dubois; Andrew P Steenhoff

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed8060300

Under-Reporting of Tuberculosis Disease among Children and Adolescents in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Trop Med Infect Dis. 2023 May 31;8(6):300. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8060300.

Authors

Alexandra R Linn^{1

2}, Melanie M Dubois³, Andrew P Steenhoff^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Global Health Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
³ Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA.

Abstract

Under-reporting of tuberculosis (TB) disease in children and adolescents is a significant global concern, as many children are missing from TB notification data. A systematic literature review was conducted to understand the global reporting gap of child and adolescent TB as well as current interventions to close this gap in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMIC). Our study found large and variable gaps in child and adolescent TB reporting, due to various factors. Interventions to close this gap exist but are limited. Future studies are necessary to improve global surveillance systems to improve TB care delivery for children and adolescents.

Keywords: TB; adolescent; child; childhood; pediatric; public health; reporting gap; youth.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Funding for publication fees of this manuscript was provided by the CHOP Global Health Center and the Melissa Ketunuti Memorial Fund. Dr. Melanie Dubois is funded through the Friedman Family Research Scholar Award in Pediatric Infectious Diseases.