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Home / The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 12, Number 1

The DOTS strategy for treatment of paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis in South Delhi, India

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SETTING: Paediatric Pulmonology Department, TB Institute, New Delhi, India.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of the DOTS strategy for paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 1098 children.

RESULTS: The mean age of the children included in the study was 11.2 years, with more females (61.7%) than males (38.3%). In the 0–5, 6–10 and 11–14 year age groups, the percentage of patients was respectively 18.3%, 26.6% and 55.1%. Patients were registered as new cases (87.7%), relapses (1.9%), failures (1.0%), defaulters (5.0%), transferred in (0.9%) and others (3.5%). Of the total number of cases, 414 were smear-positive and 404 smear-negative, while sputum status was not known for 280 patients. Sputum positivity increased with age. Category I, II and III regimens were started by respectively 50.6%, 10.5% and 38.9% patients. The cure rate was 92.4% (302/327) for new and 92% (80/87) for retreatment cases (21 = 0.02, P = 0.901), but the treatment completion rate was significantly higher for new cases (97%, 636/656) than retreatment cases (53.6%, 15/28) (21 = 100.8, P < 0.001). The overall success rate was 95.4% and 82.6% for new and retreatment cases, respectively (21 = 30.35, P < 0.001). Overall, the rates for default, failure and death in the study were respectively 3%, 1.9% and 1%.

CONCLUSION: DOTS appears to be a highly efficacious treatment strategy.

Keywords: DOTS; Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP); paediatric tuberculosis; pulmonary tuberculosis

Document Type: Regular Paper

Affiliations: Department of Paediatric Pulmonology, Lala Ram Sarup (LRS) Institute of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi, India

Publication date: 01 January 2008

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  • The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.

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