Paediatric chemoprophylaxis for child contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis: Are current guidelines effective in preventing disease?

Nesri Padayatchi; Naressa Naidu

doi:10.7196/SAMJ.9500

Correspondence

Paediatric chemoprophylaxis for child contacts of patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis: Are current guidelines effective in preventing disease?

Nesri Padayatchi, Naressa Naidu

Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that there were 480 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 2013. Alarmingly, 40% of MDR-TB cases for which second-line drug susceptibility test results were reported originated in South Africa (SA). This has important implications in vulnerable pop- ulations, such as children, where infection with drug-resistant strains of TB are usually attributable to transmission rather than acquisition of resistance.

Authors' affiliations

Nesri Padayatchi, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)/Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) HIV-TB Pathogenesis and Treatment Research Unit, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Naressa Naidu, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)/Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) HIV-TB Pathogenesis and Treatment Research Unit, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa