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Some 9 million people worldwide are diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) each year, and >500,000 are children. The estimated worldwide incidence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), resistant to both isoniazid and rifampicin, is >500,000 cases annually. The number of affected children is thought to be substantial, given the high proportion of children in low-income countries.
Researchers used several methods to estimate regional and global incidence of both TB and MDR-TB in children. From literature review, they ascertained country-specific MDR-TB rates for adults and projected estimates for children. They examined actual cases reported to the WHO and used a predictive model to estimate pediatric rates. Finally, they estimated pediatric…