PEDIATRIC TUBERCULOSIS - CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND CONTACT INVESTIGATION AT AN URBAN MEDICAL-CENTER

Objective: (A) To characterize the clinical presentation of pediatric tuberculosis in Los Angeles County; (B) to determine the efficacy of c ontact investigation in identifying a source case for children with tu berculosis. Methods: We reviewed the medical records, chest radiograph and Tuberculosis Control records of 34 children (age <15 years) evalu ated at Los Angeles County from January 1992 through December 1993. Re sults: All patients were hispanic. The mean age was 2.2 years, Thirty- three patients (97%) had intrathoracic disease, Eighteen patients (53% ) were symptomatic and the most common symptoms were fever and cough. The contact investigation revealed only 4 patients (2%) to be adult so urce cases with active tuberculosis. Conclusion: The clinical features of pediatric tuberculosis in Los Angeles County confirm results previ ously reported in other parts of the US, In contrast, the identificati on of adult source cases is suboptimal. Improved methods of contact tr acing are needed when evaluating children with tuberculosis.