AUTHOR=du Preez Karen , Jenkins Helen E. , Donald Peter R. , Solomons Regan S. , Graham Stephen M. , Schaaf H. Simon , Starke Jeffrey R. , Hesseling Anneke C. , Seddon James A. TITLE=Tuberculous Meningitis in Children: A Forgotten Public Health Emergency JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.751133 DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.751133 ISSN=1664-2295 ABSTRACT=
Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children with tuberculosis (TB), yet there are currently no estimates of the global burden of pediatric TBM. Due to frequent non-specific clinical presentation and limited and inadequate diagnostic tests, children with TBM are often diagnosed late or die undiagnosed. Even when diagnosed and treated, 20% of children with TBM die. Of survivors, the majority have substantial neurological disability with significant negative impact on children and their families. Surveillance data on this devastating form of TB can help to quantify the contribution of TBM to the overall burden, morbidity and mortality of TB in children and the epidemiology of TB more broadly. Pediatric TBM usually occurs shortly after primary infection with