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Epidemiology of childhood tuberculosis in Switzerland between 1996 and 2011

Oesch Nemeth, Gabriela ; Nemeth, Johannes ; Altpeter, Ekkehardt ; Ritz, Nicole

In: European Journal of Pediatrics, 2014, vol. 173, no. 4, p. 457-462

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    Titre
    • Epidemiology of childhood tuberculosis in Switzerland between 1996 and 2011
    Auteur
    • Oesch Nemeth, Gabriela. University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
    • Nemeth, Johannes. Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zürich, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Altpeter, Ekkehardt. Federal Office of Public Health, Bern, Switzerland
    • Ritz, Nicole. Infectious Diseases Unit, University Children's Hospital Basel, the University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 33, 4031, Basel, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Anglais
    Publié dans
    • European Journal of Pediatrics, 2014, vol. 173, no. 4, p. 457-462. Springer Berlin Heidelberg
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:325492
    Summary
    Approximately 9 million cases of tuberculosis (TB) are reported annually and half a million occur in children <15years of age. Globally, TB notifications in children have been neglected for decades although childhood TB may represent a sentinel for ongoing transmission. Data included in this study were collected from the TB database of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, which includes culture-confirmed TB and/or cases treated with ≥3 anti-mycobacterial drugs. Data from all children <15years of age reported between 1996 and 2011 were analyzed. A total of 320 cases of TB (166 cultures confirmed, 5 confirmed by nucleic acid amplification, 149 other than definite cases) were reported with an overall incidence rate of 1.6 per 100,000 children (range 1.2-2.2). A total of 154 (48%) children were younger than 5years of age and 141 (44%) were born in Switzerland. Children below 5years of age were more likely to be Swiss-born compared to children aged 10 to 14years (74% versus 26%). When analyzing the country of origin, only 55 children (17%) were of Swiss origin. Of all children with foreign origin, 117 (47%) were from a country within the WHO European Region. In 288 (90%) of all notified cases, the site of disease was the lung. Mycobacterial culture was positive in 166 cases (51.9%) with 1.8% multi-drug-resistance. The overall incidence of childhood TB disease reported in Switzerland remained stable over a 16-year period with a remarkable high rate of very young patients of foreign origin. Only half of the reported cases were culture confirmed, highlighting the need for better diagnostic tests in childhood TB.