Clinical scoring system for paediatric tuberculosis in HIV-infected and non-infected children in Rio de Janeiro.

The scoring system for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) used in Brazil has already been validated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) negative tuberculous children. Here we studied HIV-positive children. The individuals were divided into four groups: 1) tuberculous infection; 2) other pulmonary diseases; 3a) pulmonary TB and 3b)pulmonary TB and HIV. Group 3a had a significantly higher score than Groups 1 and 2 and Group 1 had a higher score than Group 2. Scores for Group 3b were lower than for Group 3a although they were still >30 points which is enough to establish a TB diagnosis (P = 0.0005). The system was useful for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in HIV-negative and -positive children.