The tuberculosis spectrum: Translating basic research into pediatric clinical practice

Recent studies suggest that the classical dichotomous classification of "active" and "latent" tuberculosis (TB) is no longer acceptable since "TB infection" encompasses a wide spectrum of conditions ranging from asymptomatic to lethal disease. In an attempt to address these issues from a pediatric clinical perspective, we describe two children with microbiologically confirmed TB but lacking any clinical and radiological evidence of disease. These two cases highlight the hypothesis that TB cannot be divided in two simple categories, but it covers a wide spectrum of manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to lethal TB. The implications of these results in the context of the new TB spectrum and the related clinical issues are discussed.