Intensified specimen collection to improve tuberculosis diagnosis in children from Rural South Africa, an observational study.

Background: In drug-resistant TB settings, specimen collection is critical for drug-susceptibility testing (DST). This observational study included multiple specimen types collected from pediatric TB suspects with the aim to determine diagnostic yield and inform clinical practice in children with drug-resistant and drug-susceptible TB.

Methods: From 03/2009-07/2010, TB suspects aged ≥6 months and ≤12 years were recruited among outpatient and inpatient settings.