Tuberculosis (TB) is a global public health problem, especially in developing countries. Although the extent of TB in children is unknown, children are estimated to account for 5 to 20% of all TB cases. The aim of this study was to specify the differences between tuberculosis in children and in adult outpatients managed in Abidjan. This retrospective study analyzed data from 2617 cases of childhood TB and 36,648 cases of adult TB. The sex ratio was 0.93 in children and 1.50 in adults HIV co-infection was present in 24.5% (174/711) of the children with TB and 44% (5106/11,617) of the adults [OR = 0.413 (0.347, 0.492), p<0.001]. Of the 2610 cases of childhood TB for which complete data were available, 77.24% were pulmonary, including 34.63% smear-positive, and 22.76% were extrapulmonary; in adults, there were 2286 cases of smear-negative tuberculosis, 24,000 smear-positive, and 9348 extrapulmonary (26.2%). The most common locations of extrapulmonary TB in children were lymph nodes (30.1%) and the pleura (26.2%). Treatment failure or death was estimated at 1.9% in children compared with 3.9% in adults [OR = 0.465 (0.326, 0.664), p <0.001]. In Abidjan, TB in children is more frequently smear-negative or located in the lymph nodes than among adults, and it affects girls and boys almost equally.
Keywords: Côte d’Ivoire; children; tuberculosis.