Consolidated Guidelines

Table 5: WHO recommendations on diagnostic approaches relevant to children and adolescents

This chapter includes current WHO recommendations that apply to children and adolescents on TB screening and contact investigation. They have been consolidated from current WHO guidelines on systematic screening for TB disease and contact investigation, namely the WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 2: screening - systematic screening for tuberculosis disease (11) and Guidance for national tuberculosis programmes on the management of tuberculosis in children (second edition) (8).

PICO question 1: TB screening approaches in children 10 years of age

Which screening tools should be used to screen systematically for TB disease in children aged below 10 years accessing health care?

a. In children aged below 10 years accessing health care in high TB prevalence settings, should systematic screening for PTB using chest radiography (CXR) be used against a composite reference standard?

The population of interest in these guidelines is children and adolescents, defined as:

a. What is the socioeconomic impact of TB on children and adolescents and their families?

b. How can adolescents with TB or eligible for TPT be optimally engaged in their care?

Children and young adolescents (aged below 15 years) represent about 11% of all people with TB globally. This means that close to 1.1 million children become ill with TB every year, almost half of them below five years of age. National TB programmes (NTPs) only notify less than half of these children, meaning that there is a large case detection gap (1).