DOH to implement new protocol in diagnosing TB among kids

Come January, the Department of Health (DOH) will implement a new protocol for diagnosing children who are suspected of having tuberculosis (TB) or primary complex.

Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the DOH’s National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said the protocol must be implemented by government and private physicians.

Oliveros said the DOH intends to recommend skin-testing as the best way to diagnose TB among children.

The protocol was designed by the DOH in coordination with various organizations involved in anti-TB advocacies.

Oliveros said the DOH is also preparing a module for use in training health professionals in implementing the protocol.

She earlier expressed concern over the high incidence of TB among Filipino children.

Oliveros said that, based on the mortality surveillance conducted by the DOH over the last five years, TB meningitis was among the top 10 killers of Filipino children.

TB meningitis is the "extra-pulmonary" type of TB that affects the meningi — the membranes that protect the brain. There can also be TB in the bones and liver.

However, no official survey has been done on TB among children because the focus of the country’s past anti-TB campaigns were adults.

The Philippines ranks 9th among the 22 countries heavily burdened with TB. It is estimated that 75 adult Filipinos die from the illness everyday.

Oliveros added that, where children are concerned, all doctors should do away with x-ray as a means of checking for TB because of children’s naturally weak immune systems.

Sputum examination is also an effective way of detecting TB, but children cannot be expected to expectorate or spit up mucus.

According to the website MedicineNet.com, the tuberculosis skin test (also known as the tuberculin or PPD test) is a test used to determine if someone has developed an immune response to the bacterium that causes TB.