Clinics blamed as TB in kids take toll

Neurologist says there are ‘many lost opportunities’

TUBERCULOSIS (TB) meningitis is one of the most common infections in children and if the disease is not treated early enough in children in the Western Cape, it will result in needless disabilities and death.

The Stellenbosch University study, conducted at Tygerberg Hospital on 139 children with meningitis, found 79 were diagnosed with TB meningitis, mostly viral meningitis as compared to bacterial meningitis.

The incidence of the diseases in the province was among the highest in the world, with 50 children admitted to Tygerberg Children’s Hospital each year.

The research, which has been published in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, showed only 15 percent of children admitted to the hospital with TB meningitis were in the early stage of the disease, or the so-called Stage 1.

The children, aged from 3 months to 13 years who were enrolled as part of the study, had their meningitis confirmed using cerebro-spinal fluid analysis.

Most were HIV-negative, and only 8 percent were HIV-positive.

Professor Regan Solomons, who conducted the study as part of his PhD research, found by the time these children were admitted to hospital, most already showed symptoms of advanced illness such as depressed levels of consciousness, stroke, coma or brain damage.

Most of them (85 percent) had Stage 2 or 3 diseases – a prognosis that exposed them to more serious and permanent brain and neurological damage such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, severe behavioural problems