Hematological abnormalities in young children with Tuberculosis

Abstract

The diagnosis of tuberculosis in children is problematic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate hematological changes in tuberculous children 6-59 months old and compare those with non-tuberculous children. A cross sectional comparative study was conducted-at-a-Pediatric Clinic at Liaquatpur (Pakistan) in children presenting with a suspicion of tuberculosis. There were 367 children who qualified for the study, 72 with "probable tuberculosis" and 295 with "no tuberculosis". There was insignificant difference of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and all other hematological parameters except monocyte count between the two groups. The mean ± standard deviation of absolute monocytes count/cubic mm was 222.69±310.78 for group A and 115.40 ±215.30 for group B (p value 0.0006). The conclusion of the study is that erythrocyte sedimentation rate as well as other hematological parameters has no role in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in children under 5 years of age.