Tuberculosis in children.

Abstract

During the past decade, a resurgence in adult tuberculosis and immigration has expanded the pool of children and adolescents infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The evaluation and treatment of children depend on the stage of tuberculosis: exposure, infection, or disease. The major roles of the primary care physician in the control of tuberculosis are evaluating risk of infection, skin-testing patients with risk factors for tuberculosis disease, treating the infection, and initially evaluating children with possible tuberculosis disease. The cornerstone of the new tuberculosis control strategy is to identify risk factors with a good medical history and perform the best possible testing when risk factors are present.