Hyderabad: Despite advances in treatment, tuberculosis of the brain is still one of the most dreaded diseases in children as it is difficult to diagnose and as most of the children who come to the hospitals are diagnosed late. Dr Ramesh Konanki, consultant pediatric neurologist explained, “Most of the children have prolonged fever ranging from 10 to 60 days. They also present with seizures, fits and severe cough and also motor problems like difficulty in sitting and walking. These symptoms require them to be put on drugs immediately. But the major problem is the delay in diagnosis and treatment which make these patients come to specialists at later stages when the disease is advanced.”
A major challenge faced in diagnostics is confirming the presence of the TB bacteria. The confirmation test called Geneexpert is available only at a few centres. A senior paediatrician said, “This test is expensive and time consuming. Hence most physicians suspect tuberculosis based on signs, symptoms and brain scans and start the treatment but as the drugs have severe side-effects treatment is a challenge.” Another challenge faced is drug-resistance. Dr S Srikrishna expla-ined, “The children are given antibiotics and that hits the immune system. So it is important for patients to get the diagnosis confirmed.” of the disease which will save them from aggressive treatment regimes.”
