Prevalence of Rifampicin-resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Pediatric Patients at a Tertiary Care Center: Hospital-based Retrospective Study

Multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR or RR-TB) resulted in around 150,000 global deaths.The proportion of new TB cases with MDR/RR-TB declined from 4.1% in 2015 to 3.2% in 2023. 7he National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) estimates, in India, a substantial detection gap of approximately 56% for TB in children, suggesting that a significant number of cases, including those with drug resistance, are being missed. 8Furthermore, the reported number of children who are less than 14 years old with MDR/RR-TB in India represents only a small fraction of the estimated burden, indicating a considerable underestimation.