Evaluation of stool as an alternative specimen for the diagnosis of paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis: a cross-sectional study

Diagnosis of paediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) continues to be a major challenge due to the inability to expectorate and paucibacillary nature of the disease. In endemic settings, the diagnosis of paediatric PTB depends mainly on clinical and radiological features as gastric aspirate (GA) is an unpleasant procedure and requires expertise as well as hospital admission. This hinders microbiological diagnosis and resistance detection. This study aims to evaluate the use of a less invasive, alternative specimen like stool for the microbiological confirmation of paediatric PTB. Gastric aspirate or induced sputum (IS) and stool samples (at least 2 gm) samples were collected from children of age