According to a recent study published in the Lancet, notifications of child tuberculosis have seen some of the largest declines in India. The study was conducted by doctors from all over the world and includes data from India. The study focuses on how the pandemic lockdown affected TB notifications among the paediatric population.
The study, “Global impact of Covid-19 on childhood tuberculosis: an analysis of notification data,” was published in the Lancet Global Health 2022 in December 2022. The study focuses on the impact of paediatric TB notification in India and other countries.
The findings of the study suggest that in 2020, global notifications for children aged 0-4 years were 35.4 per cent lower than predicted, 27.7% lower for children aged 5-14 years, and 18.8% lower for people aged 15 and older.
Dr Sachin Atre, research consultant at Dr DY Patil Medical College in Pune, who was part of the team which issued the comment in the Lancet journal on the study said that this study offers an overview of regional trends in notifications before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in 30 countries across the globe including India.
“24 of the 30 countries with high tuberculosis burden showed a decrease in tuberculosis notifications among children aged 0-4 years. According to the study, notifications in India have experienced some of the steepest declines. TB is more common in densely populated areas. Lockdowns would have confined some residents to such areas, which rarely have stable structures or adequate infection control, and could have exacerbated tuberculosis transmission among household members and neighbours, including children,” said Dr Atre.
{{/usCountry}}“24 of the 30 countries with high tuberculosis burden showed a decrease in tuberculosis notifications among children aged 0-4 years. According to the study, notifications in India have experienced some of the steepest declines. TB is more common in densely populated areas. Lockdowns would have confined some residents to such areas, which rarely have stable structures or adequate infection control, and could have exacerbated tuberculosis transmission among household members and neighbours, including children,” said Dr Atre.
{{/usCountry}}He went on to say that children who develop tuberculosis are sentinel cases that can be used to gauge the extent of community transmission; thus, missed tuberculosis cases in both adults and children will disproportionately affect the vulnerable paediatric population.
“The next two years of data will better quantify how the Covid-19 pandemic affected tuberculosis and childhood tuberculosis care in each country,” Dr Atre said.