Author(s)

Paula Rincon^1*, Sara Vallejo Tamayo¹, Juan Gonzalo Mesa², Alejandro Diaz²

¹Department of Pediatrics, CES University, Medellín, Colombia.
²Department of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases, CES University, Medellín, Colombia.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an age-old disease with a high prevalence worldwide; however, congenital presentation is infrequent and is rarely described in the literature. The incidence of congenital TB is not well-established, with fewer than 400 cases published in scientific literature. Fetal transmission rates can vary between 0 - 16%, with transmission being exceptional with maternal pulmonary TB, especially when the mother has received appropriate treatment, while more common from genital or miliary/disseminated TB. We present the case of a 31-week preterm newborn with a mother’s history of miliary TB with meningeal involvement diagnosed before delivery but with poor adherence to pharmacological treatment. Congenital TB was diagnosed as early as the second day of life, leading to a prompt initiation of therapy.

Congenital Tuberculosis, Newborn, Transmission

Rincon, P. , Tamayo, S. , Mesa, J. and Diaz, A. (2024) Congenital Tuberculosis: A Diagnostic Challenge that Stems from the Mother. Case Reports in Clinical Medicine, 13, 512-519. doi: 10.4236/crcm.2024.1312060.