Tuberculosis in children is a different disease from tuberculosis in adults



Children
  • Develop tuberculosis RAPIDLY (in weeks to months after they are infected)

  • Disease can be crippling and severely damaging

  • When TB programs begin to decline, children are impacted first 



Adults
  • Disease develops years after exposure to TB

  • Adults with healthy immune systems are less vulnerable to severe disease

  • Adult disease will manifest later in an epidemic
What is the same:
  • INH (Isoniazid) Preventive Therapy (also known as IPT) prevents disease in people who have been infected


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