Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: To evaluate the clinical profile of children with pulmonary tuberculosis. Material and method: A total of 200 patients were enrolled in the current research. Inclusion criteria in the present study included subjects within the age range of 5 to 15 years who were admitted with confirmed sputum based and radiographic diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Complete demographic and clinical details of all the patients was obtained. A comprehensive clinical file was kept, including the history of the patient and any contacts, the physical examination, TST, CXR, sputum smear microscopy, and culture. Smear, culture, or both positive bacteriology cases were classified as tuberculosis (TB). Results: Weight loss, anorexia, fatigue and fever were found to be present in 74.5 percent, 79.5 percent, 56 percent and 91 percent of the patients respectively. Cough and pallor were seen in 79.5 percent and 60.5 percent of the patients respectively. Dyspnoea was seen in 44.5 percent of the patients while haemoptysis was seen in 19.5 percent of the patients. Non-significant results were obtained while correlating the clinical profile among with age and gender. Conclusion: Our results emphasize the necessity of TB screening for children hospitalized with severe pneumonia or respiratory illness.