Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40423357›Full record

ArticleTropical medicine and infectious disease2025

Incidence, Disease Spectrum, and Outcomes of Tuberculous Meningitis in South African Children: The Initial Impact of COVID-19.

Victoria E Namukuta, Mariette Smith, Danite Bester, Magriet van Niekerk, Regan Solomons, Ronald van Toorn, Hendrik Simon Schaaf, James A Seddon, Helena Rabie, Mary-Ann Davies and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Tropical medicine and infectious disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Victoria E NamukutaDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.ORCID 0009-0006-7767-6529
Mariette SmithHealth Intelligence, Western Cape Government Health and Wellness, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-8613-6328
Danite BesterDesmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
Magriet van NiekerkDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
Regan SolomonsDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-5607-8443
Ronald van ToornDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-2689-065X
Hendrik Simon SchaafDesmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-5755-4133
James A SeddonDesmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-2296-2302
Helena RabieDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 7505, South Africa.
Mary-Ann DaviesHealth Intelligence, Western Cape Government Health and Wellness, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
Anneke C HesselingDesmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
Karen du PreezDesmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-5279-475X

Funding

Interdisciplinary and multi-level approach to estimate the disease burden and outcomes of childhood tuberculous meningitis.K43TW011006 · FIC · STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY · PI DU PREEZ, KAREN · 2020 to 2024
$622k
FIC NIH HHS K43 TW011006Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health K43TW011006
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a very severe form of childhood tuberculosis (TB), requiring hospitalisation for diagnosis. We investigated trends in admission, disease spectrum, outcomes, and healthcare system factors in children with TBM managed at a tertiary referral hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children (<13 years) with TBM admitted from 2017 to 2021. An innovative surveillance algorithm was used to identify all possible TBM episodes using integrated electronic health data. Episodes were clinically verified and data were extracted using medical records. A total of 263 children (median age 2.2 years; IQR: 1.1-5.1), 17 (6.5%) living with HIV were admitted with TBM during 2017 to 2021. There was a significant reduction in TBM admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic (IRR: 0.57, 95% CI:0.39-0.84), particularly in children < 2 years (IRR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15-0.62). BCG vaccination was documented in 137/263 (52.1%) and 10/87 (11.5%) eligible children who initiated TB preventive therapy. During the pandemic, children with TBM were significantly more likely to be living with HIV (aOR: 4.01, 95% CI: 1.39-11.62). COVID-19 was associated with a significant reduction in the number of young children admitted with TBM. Many missed opportunities to prevent TBM were identified regardless of COVID-19. Paediatric TBM surveillance is a useful marker to monitor epidemiological trends.

Indexed as

COVID-19paediatricSARS-CoV-2surveillancetuberculous meningitis

Identifiers

PMID40423357
PMCPMC12115567

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.