Management of newborns at risk of neonatal and perinatal tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the commonest infectious diseases in the world with 10.4 million new cases estimated in 2015, of which one million are children. The prevalence of active TB in pregnant and postpartum women from high-prevalence countries is higher than 60 cases per 100 000 people per year. Here we presented three different cases of infants born to mothers with active TB and we reviewed the current recommendations on the prophylaxis of neonatal and perinatal tuberculosis. Currently there is a lack of concordance regarding the most appropriate time for TB reassessment and discontinuation of prophylaxis after birth. More reliable diagnostic tests are still needed to help physicians to decide the appropriate time to safely discontinue prophylaxis. An uniform consensus on management of infants born to TBCinfected mothers is highly necessary to improve the measures and interventions to limit the infection at birth.