Paediatric Tuberculosis

Approximately 1.3 million children under 15 develop tuberculosis each year, with 191,000 dying from the disease. Sputum-based microbiological confirmation is difficult in children because collecting respiratory specimens is invasive and results are frequently negative due to paucibacillary disease. Children represent 12% of global TB cases but account for 15% of TB mortality, a disproportionate share driven largely by diagnostic failure. Children under 5 years face the greatest risk of severe TB disease. Simple, non-sputum-based point-of-care diagnostic tools are urgently needed for childhood TB.