6.3 Screening children living with HIV

Children living with HIV have a high risk of rapid progress to severe disease and death if a diagnosis of TB is missed. A child with HIV infection is 3.5 times more likely to progress to TB disease than a child who is HIV-negative (39). An estimated 16% of paediatric deaths from TB are among HIV-positive children, resulting in 36 000 deaths annually (2). It is for this reason that WHO strongly recommends that children with HIV be screened for TB.

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