Identifying childhood TB infection and diagnosing complications

A study published in BMC Medicine by Vivek Naranbhai and colleagues has revealed that in South African children, alterations in the amount of different types of white blood cell can help to identify infants at risk of TB infection. The authors showed that an increased ratio of blood monocytes to lymphocytes is associated with higher TB risk in the first two years of life, suggesting that the monocyte:lymphocyte ratio could be used to help identify at-risk infants and prioritize them for TB testing.

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The global fight against TB: identifying childhood infection and diagnosing complications 

Source:  BioMed Central blog
Image credits: Child Healthy