Intensified Tuberculosis Case Finding among Malnourished Children in Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres of Karnataka, India: Missed Opportunities

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Abstract

Background

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most serious form of malnutrition affecting children under-five and is associated with many infectious diseases including Tuberculosis (TB). In India, nutritional rehabilitation centres (NRCs) have been recently established for the management of SAM including TB. The National TB Programme (NTP) in India has introduced a revised algorithm for diagnosing paediatric TB. We aimed to examine whether NRCs adhered to these guidelines in diagnosing TB among SAM children.

Methods

A cross-sectional study involving review of records of all SAM children identified by health workers during 2012 in six tehsils (sub-districts) with NRCs (population: 1.8 million) of Karnataka, India.

Results

Of 1927 identified SAM children, 1632 (85%) reached NRCs. Of them, 1173 (72%) were evaluated for TB and 19(2%) were diagnosed as TB. Of 1173, diagnostic algorithm was followed in 460 (37%). Among remaining 763 not evaluated as per algorithm, tuberculin skin test alone was conducted in 307 (41%), chest radiography alone in 99 (13%) and no investigations in 337 (45%). The yield of TB was higher among children evaluated as per algorithm (4%) as compared to those who were not (0.3%) (OR: 15.3 [95%CI: 3.5-66.3]). Several operational challenges including non-availability of a full-time paediatrician, non-functioning X-ray machine due to frequent power cuts, use of tuberculin with suboptimal strength and difficulties in adhering to a complex diagnostic algorithm were observed.

Conclusion

This study showed that TB screening in NRCs was sub-optimal in Karnataka. Some children did not reach the NRC, while many of those who did were either not or sub-optimally evaluated for TB. This study pointed to a number of operational issues that need to be addressed if this collaborative strategy is to identify more TB cases amongst malnourished children in India.

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Most cited references 7

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The interaction between nutrition and infection.

Peter Katona, Judit Katona-Apte (2008)

Infection and malnutrition have always been intricately linked. Malnutrition is the primary cause of immunodeficiency worldwide, and we are learning more and more about the pathogenesis of this interaction. Five infectious diseases account for more than one-half of all deaths in children aged <5 years, most of whom are undernourished. Micronutrient deficiencies have effects such as poor growth, impaired intellect, and increased mortality and susceptibility to infection. The worldwide magnitude of parasite infection is enormous. It is understood that parasites may lead to malnutrition, but the extent to which malnutrition causes increased parasite infestation is not known; thus, the conditions need to be addressed together. Nutritional deficiencies associated with pregnancy are associated with poor immune response to infection. Because this immune deficiency is partially compensated by breast-feeding, this is the single best way to protect infants from infection. Malnutrition and nutritional alterations, common complications of human immunodeficiency virus infection, include disorders of food intake, nutrient absorption, and intermediary metabolism and play a significant and independent role in morbidity and mortality. The 21st century provides new information and new challenges. With new technologies and political changes, it is hoped that a healthier, more disease-free, and better-nourished population will emerge.

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A consistent log-linear relationship between tuberculosis incidence and body mass index.

Knut Lonnroth, Brian Williams, Peter Cegielski … (2010)

Low weight for height is an established risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), and recent studies suggest that overweight is a protective factor. No previous systematic review has been done to explore the consistency and establish the gradient of this apparent 'dose-response' relationship. A systematic literature review was carried out to identify cohort studies that collected data on weight and height at baseline and that used a diagnosis of active TB as the study outcome. Weight-for-height measures used in the original studies were transformed into body mass index (BMI). Exponential trend lines were fitted to each data set. Six studies were included. In all of them, there was a log-linear inverse relationship between TB incidence and BMI, within the BMI range 18.5-30 kg/m(2). The average slope gave a reduction in TB incidence of 13.8% [95% confidence interval 13.4-14.2] per unit increase in BMI. The dose-response relationship was less certain at BMI 30 kg/m(2). There is a strong and consistent log-linear relationship between TB incidence and BMI across a variety of settings with different levels of TB burden. More research is required to test the relationship at very low and very high BMI levels, to establish the biological mechanism linking BMI with risk of TB and to establish the potential impact on the global TB epidemic of changing nutritional status of populations.

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Nutritional status of children in India: household socio-economic condition as the contextual determinant

Barun Kanjilal, Papiya Mazumdar, Moumita Mukherjee … (2010)

Background Despite recent achievement in economic progress in India, the fruit of development has failed to secure a better nutritional status among all children of the country. Growing evidence suggest there exists a socio-economic gradient of childhood malnutrition in India. The present paper is an attempt to measure the extent of socio-economic inequality in chronic childhood malnutrition across major states of India and to realize the role of household socio-economic status (SES) as the contextual determinant of nutritional status of children. Methods Using National Family Health Survey-3 data, an attempt is made to estimate socio-economic inequality in childhood stunting at the state level through Concentration Index (CI). Multi-level models; random-coefficient and random-slope are employed to study the impact of SES on long-term nutritional status among children, keeping in view the hierarchical nature of data. Main findings Across the states, a disproportionate burden of stunting is observed among the children from poor SES, more so in urban areas. The state having lower prevalence of chronic childhood malnutrition shows much higher burden among the poor. Though a negative correlation (r = -0.603, p < .001) is established between Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) and CI values for stunting; the development indicator is not always linearly correlated with intra-state inequality in malnutrition prevalence. Results from multi-level models however show children from highest SES quintile posses 50 percent better nutritional status than those from the poorest quintile. Conclusion In spite of the declining trend of chronic childhood malnutrition in India, the concerns remain for its disproportionate burden on the poor. The socio-economic gradient of long-term nutritional status among children needs special focus, more so in the states where chronic malnutrition among children apparently demonstrates a lower prevalence. The paper calls for state specific policies which are designed and implemented on a priority basis, keeping in view the nature of inequality in childhood malnutrition in the country and its differential characteristics across the states.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Yungling Leo Lee: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS ONE

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Journal ID (pmc): plosone

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date Collection: 2013

Publication date (Electronic): 16 December 2013

Volume: 8

Issue: 12

Electronic Location Identifier: e84255

Affiliations

[1 ]Tuberculosis Control Unit, World Health Organisation, Country Office for India, New Delhi, India

[2 ]Operational Research Unit, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, South-East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India

[3 ]Tuberculosis Control Unit, State Tuberculosis Office, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

[4 ]Operational Research Unit, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Paris, France

[5 ]Operational Research Unit (LUXOR), Medecins sans Frontieres, Brussels-Luxembourg.

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Author notes

* E-mail: bhatp74@ 123456gmail.com

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Conceived and designed the experiments: PGB. Performed the experiments: BN DK SM. Analyzed the data: PGB AMVK DK. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: PGB AMVK SS. Wrote the manuscript: PGB AMVK BN SS SAN SM AJR EH. Contributed to study protocol: AMVK BN SS SAN DAE AJR.

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-13-28019

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084255

PMC ID: 3865256

PubMed ID: 24358350

SO-VID: 6de5c307-7ca7-41ba-b609-fbff249acb67

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date received : 4 July 2013

Date accepted : 13 November 2013

Funding

Funding for the course was from an anonymous donor and the Department for International Development, UK. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Intensified Tuberculosis Case Finding among Malnourished Children in Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres of Karnataka, India: Missed Opportunities

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Abstract

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Conclusion

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PLOS Climate

Most cited references 7

The interaction between nutrition and infection.

A consistent log-linear relationship between tuberculosis incidence and body mass index.

Nutritional status of children in India: household socio-economic condition as the contextual determinant

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