Publications by authors named "Zoe Franckling-Smith"
Article Synopsis
- Researchers looked into how to test kids under 15 for tuberculosis, a serious illness that can be missed in many children.
- They studied data from five countries and included children who showed signs of the disease, while excluding very sick kids or those already on treatment.
- Out of 975 kids tested, 25% were confirmed to have tuberculosis, 29% were thought to have it but not confirmed, and 46% were unlikely to have it.
Article Synopsis
- Childhood tuberculosis is a significant health issue due to difficulties in diagnosing the disease, and there's a need for improved diagnostic tests using easily obtained samples.
- The study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the Cepheid MTB-HR test in detecting tuberculosis in children under 15 years across multiple sites in Africa and India, analyzing results against established medical standards.
- Although the MTB-HR test showed high specificity (90.3%), its sensitivity was modest, indicating limitations in identifying the disease, especially among children with HIV.
Background: Microbiologic diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis may be difficult. Oral swab specimens are a potential noninvasive alternative to sputum specimens for diagnosis.
Methods: This was a prospective diagnostic accuracy study of oral swab specimens (buccal and tongue) for pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis in children (aged ≤ 15 years) in 2 South African hospital sites.
The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children is challenging. Difficulties in acquiring suitable specimens, pauci-bacillary load, and limitations of current diagnostic methods often make microbiological confirmation difficult. Chest imaging provides an additional diagnostic modality that is frequently used in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: South Africa has undergone major economic and health system changes, impacting the epidemiology of childhood asthma. This study aimed to investigate prevalence time trends of asthma in South African adolescents over two decades and to identify associated risk factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017, in a randomised sample of 13-14-year-old Cape Town adolescents, using the standardised Global Asthma Network written, video and environmental questionnaires.