European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Objective: Malnutrition is a major problem in India as well as Madhya Pradesh. TB and HIV are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in SAM children along with diarrhea and pneumonia. This study conducted to know the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in SAM children. Study Design: A prospective observational study.  Setting: The present study was conducted in the NRC, Department of Pediatrics, M.G.M. Medical College, Indore, over a period of 18 months.  Participants/Patients: 429 SAM children of age 6-59 months were enrolled and screened for tuberculosis. Demographic, anthropometric, clinical history and investigation were done as per updated national guideline for pediatric tuberculosis and were analysed. Results: Out of 429 SAM children,53 diagnosed as PTB(prevalence= 12.3 %), prevalence of PTB were 11.2% in < 24 months then 8.8 % 25-60 months,12.7% were female then males(8.3%).Prevalence of PTB was found 11.6% in  W/H < -3SD, and 18.8% in group with MUAC < 11.5 cm, Malnutrition was found to be strongly associated with tuberculosis. The prevalence of PTB in BCG unvaccinated children was 57.7% while in vaccinated was 9.4% .85.7% had history of contact with tuberculosis then without history of contact 6.6%,31.82% TST were positive and 4.99% TST negative , 82 %  cases had positive chest x ray finding and only 1.1% had normal chest x ray,all found to be statistically significant.Total 16.9 % PTB cases were bacteriologically confirmed in our study. Conclusion: Every SAM child should be screened for tuberculosis, good quality X-ray,history of contact with TB, and TST should be available as an important tool and every effort should be made to diagnose tuberculosis by microscopy and culture, so that sensitivity of mycobacteria could be known.