Distinguishing Features of Adolescents With Undiagnosed Infectious Tuberculosis Attending a Pediatric Emergency Department

Fatimah Al Dubisi; Gregory Harvey; Olivia Ostrow; Ray Lam; Michelle Science; Ian Kitai

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab435

Distinguishing Features of Adolescents With Undiagnosed Infectious Tuberculosis Attending a Pediatric Emergency Department

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Aug 25;8(9):ofab435. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab435. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Authors

Fatimah Al Dubisi¹, Gregory Harvey^{2

3}, Olivia Ostrow^{2

3}, Ray Lam^{1

4}, Michelle Science^{1

3}, Ian Kitai^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Division of Emergency Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario,Canada.
⁴ Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

More than 10 days of fever or 13 days of cough differentiated adolescent patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department with infectious tuberculosis (TB) from most patients with pneumonia. Upper lobe involvement was significantly more common in patients with TB. Symptom- and radiograph-based algorithms could minimize TB exposure and aid diagnosis.

Keywords: adolescent; emergency department; infection control; tuberculosis.