Epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic characteristics of tuberculosis in adolescents

Background: Though the risk of tuberculosis is expected to increase during adolescence, the exact burden of the disease in this age group is often underrepresented and understudied in literature. Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of hospital records of adolescents aged 10-19 years admitted with tuberculosis at Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai between January 2014 and March 2022, after ethical board clearance. Results: Out of 54 cases, 42 were in the young adolescent group and 12 belonged to the older adolescent group. Sex distribution showed slightly higher incidence in females (55.6% vs 44.4%). Fever was the most common presenting complaint (72.2%) followed by loss of weight (51.9%) and cough (48.1%). Out of total 54 cases, 16 were pulmonary TB, 28 were extrapulmonary and 16 were disseminated. Consolidation was the predominant radiological feature (31.48%) followed by mediastinal lymphadenopathy (25.92%) and cavity (16.66%). Cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test was positive in 68.5% of the cases while smear was positive only in 9 cases (16.7%) and histopathology positive in 5 cases (9.2%). Conclusions: Adolescent tuberculosis occurs mostly in the young adolescent group. This group should be recognized as a key risk period and not clubbed in with childhood.