Pediatric Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: The Current and Future Prospects for Management and Prevention.

In the continued battle against one of the oldest enemies known to mankind, , the emergence of drug resistance to antituberculosis drugs among children poses multiple challenges for early detection and treatment. Molecular diagnostics and newer drugs like bedaquiline and delamanid have strengthened the armamentarium and helped design convenient, safe, and child-friendly therapeutic regimens against drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Preventive strategies like treatment of TB infection among children living in close contact with patients with drug-resistant TB and effective vaccines against TB are currently in the investigative stages of development and implementation.

Current Epidemiology of Pediatric Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Children act as reservoirs of infection out of which future cases develop. Without the successful detection and treatment of TB infection and disease in children, elimination strategies for TB will be ineffective.

Enteroviral Infections in Infants.

Enteroviruses (EVs) are major pathogens in young infants. These viruses were traditionally classified into the following four subgenera: polio, coxsackie A and B, and echoviruses. Now that poliomyelitis seems to be controlled in most parts of the world, coxsackie and echoviruses are gaining more attention because (i) the structural and pathophysiological similarities and (ii) the consequent possibilities in translational medicine.