Introduction:

The presence of children tuberculosis constitutes a transmission alert sign in the community.

Objectives:

To determine the incidence and characteristics of children tuberculosis in Cuba in its earliest stage.

Methods:

Descriptive, cross-sectional and restrospective study of 107 diagnosed cases in the ages from 0 to 18 years during the period 2013-2017, according to data provided by the National Division of Medical Records and Health Statistics, epidemiological records and data from the Center of National Reference on Children Tuberculosis. There were studied demographic, epidemiological, clinical and study variables which contributed to the diagnosis as well as to the final evolution of the cases.

Results:

There was a predominance of the age of group of 15 - 18 years (52.0 - 48.6%), masculine sex (59.0 - 55.1%) and patients from Havana city (43.0 - 40.2%). Tuberculosis in patients under 19 years represented between the 1.8 and 4.4% of all the cases in the country. The incidence rate per 100 000 inhabitants in patients under 15 years was 0.4 to 0.8 with a decreasing trend; in the group age of 15 to 18 years it was between 0.8 and 3.0 with an increasing trend. Pulmonary conditions predominated (87.0 - 82.6%) with poor bacteriological confirmation (49.0 - 45.7%). None of the cases had HIV-TB co-infection nor drugs resistance. There was one deceased girl (0,9%).

Conclusions:

Cuba has a very low incidence of children tuberculosis; it does not represent a health problem but it actually is an indicator of transmission of the disease in the community. For its erradication, it is needed to strenght the actions of the Control´s National Program, particularly in Havana city and the age group of 15 to 18 years.

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