TUBERCULOSIS IN CHILDREN

The dramatic resurgence and increase in the total number of cases of tuberculous infection and disease in children is alarming in the United States. With poverty, poor access to health care, overcrowding (predominantly in inner-city areas), and an increase in immigration from areas with high endemic rates of TB, the problem in children will continue to increase. If the impact of coinfection with HIV and M. tuberculosis becomes significant in children, as it has in adults in the United States, the increase in the total number of cases of tuberculous disease in children could be staggering. The impact of multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis and the current crises in availability of effective anti-TB drugs will need a similar resurgence.