Increased tuberculosis rate in children

RKI: Increase in tuberculosis cases in children in Germany

03/20/2012

According to information from the Robert Koch Institute, more children have been infected with the infectious disease tuberculosis in the past than was previously the case. The experts suspect a renewed flare-up of the dangerous lung disease.

Tuberculosis (TBC), also known as tuberculosis in earlier times, is a bacterial disease. Bacterial inflammation in humans usually affects the lungs. It is one of the most deadly infections worldwide. In 2008 alone, 1.8 million people worldwide died on the TB. In Germany, people with a weakened immune system or genetic susceptibility to lung disease are particularly affected. In recent decades, the infectious disease in Germany almost seemed to be forgotten, since an occurrence is rather rare.

More cases of infection in children
According to an evaluation by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), since 2008 more children have been infected with the tuberculosis pathogens. Since then, according to RKI, case numbers are rising year on year. In 2008 there were 124 patients, the number of children in the year 2009 was already 142. In 2010, the number of children affected increased again to 158. The RKI considered only children and adolescents under the age of 16 (15 years). Health experts of the authorities see this as an indication of a renewed advance of tuberculosis in Germany.

Since the disease belongs to the notifiable diseases, a precise case number can be determined throughout Germany. In 2010, a total of 4330 people were infected with a tuberculosis germ. In the same period of 2009, there were hardly more than 2010. Although the lung disease is well controlled with timely therapy with a combination of antibiotic drugs, the death rate was nevertheless relatively high. A total of 136 people died of tuberculosis, as the RKI determined. „This is still too high given the severity of the illness and the treatment duration of at least six months“, explained Dr. Reinhard Burger, Chairman of the RKI. Until 2008, the institute was still able to detect a declining incidence of new diseases. Since the year now increases the number of new infections and approaches according to RKI „a plateau“. As a result, health authorities and agencies are increasingly working to identify and break down the causes and chains of infections. When TBC was diagnosed in children, the infection was more recent.

Tuberculosis is a droplet infection
The transmission of TBC usually takes place via droplets of sick people in the vicinity. If specific sputum germs have been detected, physicians speak of one „open tuberculosis“. If bacteria are detectable in other secretions of the body, doctors speak of one „potentially open tuberculosis“. By coughing the germs are transported into the environment, where they can survive in the air for hours. A common transmission route is the consumption of unpasteurized milk, as cattle herds can also become infected with TBC. Therefore, especially children, the elderly and the immunocompromised should only drink pasteurized milk. (Sb)

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Image: Author: KGH Permission, Wikipedia. Picture shows the pathogen.