Children below 15 years should be screened for tuberculosis, health experts have said.

Data at the Ministry of Health’s National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Disease Programme (NTLD-P) from a 2021 Annual Report shows that TB prevalence in children under the age of 14 years stands at nine per cent.

But experts say prevalence could be higher due to missed cases.

Evelyne Kibuchi, the National Coordinator, Stop TB Partnership-Kenya, says there is need for a countrywide contact tracing in households that have adults who have been diagnosed with the disease.

“What needs to be done any time we have an adult with TB, is that we should carry out contact tracing in such a household for any child below 15 years, and if they have not been infected, they should be put on TB Prevention Therapy,” she said.

Most children below 15 years are in learning institutions, but according to Kibuchi, the Ministry of Education had not taken up the role of testing and screening TB among children in schools.

“I would recommend that the Ministry of Education take up the issue of screening the children, maybe once or twice a year to ensure that if any of them is infected, they are put on treatment immediately,” Kibuchi (pictured) said.

She also advocated for the rolling out of a new technology of using stool test to check TB among children since the symptoms are much the same as those of malaria when screening children.

According to Kibuchi, Kenya still faces a challenge getting most of the persons infected with TB diagnosed and being put on treatment.

Data by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation shows that Kenya is missing about 44 per cent of the children with TB.

Caren Mburu, a specialist in children diseases and Senior Technical Advisor for Adolescent and Pediatric services at the EGPAF says data on TB among children does not represent the true picture.

“This is an indication that we are missing a lot of TB in children, and the reason we need early diagnosis and treatment,” she said.