Diabetes Makes Children More Susceptible to TB

Children with Type 1 diabetes are at an increased risk of developing tuberculosis, according to a new report. Dr. E. A. Webb, from the Desmond Tutu Tuberculosis Center, Cape Town, South Africa, and colleagues found that almost one in three children with Type 1 diabetes tested positive for TB, placing them and others around them at risk of being infected. Webb and his team studied 258 patients under the age of 21 years with Type 1 diabetes in areas where rates of TB infections are highest. They found that the rate of TB infection was 29.8%, while the active form of TB was found in 9 patients, or 3.48%, and 16 patients had been treated for TB prior to the study. The rate of tuberculosis rose from 7.8 % at 5 years to 12.5% at 10 years. They noted that the rate of TB infections were more than 6.8 times larger in those with Type 1 diabetes. Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Aug 2009