Poor attendance at a child TB contact clinic in Malawi.

SETTING

Child tuberculosis (TB) contact clinic, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi.

DESIGN

Patients registered with smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) were encouraged to bring childhood household contacts to the clinic for assessment and management. Data of TB cases registered over the same period were collected from the Blantyre District TB Office.

RESULTS

Attendance at the contact clinic was very poor, representing only 7.7% of all adults registered with smear-positive PTB over 17 months, and was significantly lower for potential male source cases than females (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.23-0.55, P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

Improved uptake and implementation of child contact management in Malawi is a challenge.