The socioeconomic impact of tuberculosis on children and adolescents: a scoping review and conceptual framework.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) has been repeatedly shown to have socioeconomic impacts in both individual-level and ecological studies; however, much less is known about this effect among children and adolescents and the extent to which being affected by TB during childhood and adolescence can have life-course implications. This paper describes the results of the development of a conceptual framework and scoping review to review the evidence on the short- and long-term socioeconomic impact of tuberculosis on children and adolescents. OBJECTIVES: To increase knowledge of the socioeconomic impact of TB on children and adolescents. METHODS: We developed a conceptual framework of the socioeconomic impact of TB on children and adolescents, and used scoping review methods to search for evidence supporting or disproving it. We searched four academic databases from 1 January 1990 to 6 April 2021 and conducted targeted searches of grey literature. We extracted data using a standard form and analysed data thematically. RESULTS: Thirty-six studies (29 qualitative, five quantitative and two mixed methods studies) were included in the review. Overall, the evidence supported the conceptual framework, suggesting a severe socioeconomic impact of TB on children and adolescents through all the postulated pathways. Effects ranged from impoverishment, stigma, and family separation, to effects on nutrition and missed education opportunities. TB did not seem to exert a different socioeconomic impact when directly or indirectly affecting children/adolescents, suggesting that TB can affect this group even when they are not affected by the disease. No study provided sufficient follow-up to observe the long-term socioeconomic effect of TB in this age group. CONCLUSION: The evidence gathered in this review reinforces our understanding of the impact of TB on children and adolescents and highlights the importance of considering effects during the entire life course. Both ad-hoc and sustainable social protection measures and strategies are essential to mitigate the socioeconomic consequences of TB among children and adolescents.

Contacts of underserved tuberculosis patients have higher odds of TB disease in North West England: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between patients' social risk factors and the risk of tuberculous infection and TB disease among their contacts in England. DESIGN: This was a cohort study of all TB cases from North West England diagnosed between 27 March 2012 and 28 June 2016. The social risk factors of TB cases were evaluated to estimate their need for enhanced case management (ECM), from 0 (standard of care) to 3 (intensive social support). RESULTS: A total of 2139 cases and their 10 019 contacts met the eligibility criteria. Being a contact of a patient with smear-positive TB with high ECM or being of Black Caribbean ethnicity was independently associated with greater odds of active TB disease (smear-positive vs. smear-negative, OR 5.3, 95%CI 3.2-8.7; ECM-3 vs. ECM-0, OR 2.2, 95%CI 1.01-5.0; Black Caribbean vs. White, OR 7.4, 95%CI 2.1-25). Being a contact of a patient with smear-positive TB or of Black Caribbean ethnicity was also independently associated with greater odds of tuberculous infection (smear-positive vs. smear-negative, OR 5.3, 95%CI 3.8-7.3; and Black Caribbean vs. White, OR 6.7, 95%CI 2.0-25). CONCLUSIONS: The social complexity and ethnicity of patients were associated with tuberculous infection and TB disease in their contacts.

Opinions of general medical registrars on HIV teaching and their competence in HIV-related clinical issues.

More HIV-positive patients are living longer and presenting to non-infection specialties with non-HIV-related issues (eg diabetes, heart disease). National recommendations advise routinely offering HIV testing to all new registrants to primary care and all general medical admissions where community prevalence exceeds 2:1000. It is, therefore, imperative that all physicians are educated and competent in HIV infection, counselling and testing. This study aimed to establish regional medical registrars' opinions on teaching provision, and confidence in, HIV medicine. The results indicated a lack of confidence in HIV medicine and, in those without postgraduate rotations in HIV medicine or infectious diseases, a perception that HIV and infection-related teaching provision is inadequate.

Autoimmune encephalitis: a case series and comprehensive review of the literature.

Encephalitic syndromes are a common medical emergency. The importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment is paramount. If initial investigations for infectious agents prove negative, other diagnoses must be considered promptly. Autoimmune encephalitides are being increasingly recognized as important (and potentially reversible) non-infectious causes of an encephalitic syndrome. We describe four patients with autoimmune encephalitis--3 auto-antibody positive, 1 auto-antibody negative--treated during the last 18 months. A comprehensive review of the literature in this expanding area will be of interest to the infectious diseases, general medical and neurology community.

Severe pneumonia and jaundice in a young man: an atypical presentation of an uncommon disease.

We present a patient with an atypical presentation of Fusobacterium infection, the genus responsible for Lemierre's syndrome. This syndrome, which often affects healthy, young people and can be fatal if not recognized and treated early, is defined as a history of recent oropharyngeal infection with clinical or radiological evidence of internal jugular vein thrombosis and isolation of anaerobic pathogens, mainly Fusobacterium necrophorum. The history, presentation, investigations and management of the patient are described and then contrasted with the existing literature surrounding Lemierre's syndrome, once termed the 'forgotten disease'.

Perceptual and acoustic evidence for reduced fluency in the vicinity of stuttering episodes.

A perceptual experiment and acoustic analyses were conducted to address the question whether stuttering occurs only at specific "moments" or whether it also affects the surrounding speech. Sections of stutterers' speech were extracted from clauses which were spoken completely fluently (control) or contained one stutter (experimental). In the experimental sections, only speech up to or following the stuttered word was employed. All sections were rated by independent groups of subjects for fluency, the nature of the excised stutter (repetition or prolongation), and the temporal position of the stutter relative to the fluent section that they heard (before or after). Two additional groups of listeners were asked to select from experimental-control pairs the section that had been drawn from near a stutter, and to indicate type and position of the stutter. Listeners could reliably judge which sections had been near a stutter and the type of that stutter, but not its position. Acoustic analyses showed that there were no differences in duration, rate, number of pauses, and average intensity between the experimental and control sections. However, there were significant differences in terms of the drop in intensity between the syllables in the respective sections. The perceptual identification of experimental versus control sections showed a significant relationship with this acoustic measure and with speech rate. The judgments about the type of stutter only correlated with drop in intensity. We conclude that stuttering episodes affect the intensity-time profile of the speech in their vicinity, and that listeners can use this acoustic information to infer the presence and type of the stutter.