Clinical profile of paediatric tuberculosis at the Nkomo District Medical Centre in Yaoundé in 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a major public health problem despite the availability of vaccines and appropriate treatments. The aim of our study was to describe the clinical profile of a cohort of patients followed for pediatric tuberculosis in an urban health district of Yaoundé.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study conducted over an 18-month period at the Nkomo District Medical Center. We included all records of patients aged 0 to 19 years who were being monitored for pediatric tuberculosis. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 software.

Results: We collected 42 cases of tuberculosis. The mean age was 11.83 years (range 6 months to 18 years) with a sex ratio of 1.21. The incidence was 71.4%. HIV co-infection accounted for 19%. The index case was present in 26.2%. Cough, fever, and night sweats were found in 69%. Pulmonary tuberculosis accounted for 73.8%. Bacteriology was positive in 77.4%, with 11.9% of cases resistant to rifampicin. The main paraclinical tests requested were TB lamp (23.8%), chest X-ray (23.8%), and GeneXpert (21.4%). Negative BAAR in biological secretions was achieved in the second month in 82% of cases. Complete recovery was achieved in 76.2% of cases.

Conclusion: Pediatric tuberculosis is a public health problem in Cameroon. Adolescents are the most affected. Pulmonary localization was the most common. Resistant forms accounted for one-tenth of the sample. Death occurred in one-quarter of the subjects.