Pattern of Childhood Tuberculosis in a particular Rural Area of Bangladesh

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant cause of illness and death among children, especially those under 15 years old. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the types and distribution of childhood TB cases diagnosed at the DOTS center of Kumudini Hospital, a rural tertiary care facility in Mirzapur, Bangladesh. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted over the period from January to December 2023. Relevant demographic and clinical data were extracted from patient records and entered manually into Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistical methods were applied to analyze the data. A total of 42 children were diagnosed. Among them, 26 (61.90%) were male and 16 (38.10%) were female. In terms of TB type, 50% had bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB, 40.48% had extra-pulmonary TB, and 9.52% were clinically diagnosed with pulmonary TB. The vast majority, 95.24%, were new cases, with only 4.76% being relapses. These findings revealed that childhood TB in this region predominantly affects older children and presents mostly as confirmed pulmonary TB. The high number of new cases underscores the urgent need for enhanced awareness, timely diagnosis, and community-driven TB control measures to reduce the disease burden among children in rural settings of Bangladesh.