Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major public health problem worldwide. In Turkey, TB cases have to be reported to the Ministry of Health via the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System which has been active since 2005. In this study, our aim is to investigate how effectively the system is working at a tertiary center.

Material and Methods: TB cases aged 0 to 18 years who admitted to Hacettepe University Pediatric Pulmonology for diagnosis or treatment between January 2005 and December 2015 were detected. These cases were later screened from the records of the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System by the help of the managers from Tuberculosis Department of the Ministry of Health. Unreported cases and delays in reporting were evaluated.

Results: From January 2005 to December 2015 there were 93 pediatric TB patients. In the preliminary evaluation, 92 of the 93 patients were properly reported via the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System. The single unreported patient had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit with a diagnosis of severe TB meningitis and transferred to another center upon the family request. It was learned that she died during her hospitalization.

Conclusion: Reporting of tuberculosis cases and national registration systems are very important for public health. Thanks to the direct supervision treatment policy implemented in our country since 2005, almost all TB cases are recorded. Considering our patient who was not notified from our center, it has seen that it is very important to report patients with a poor condition as soon as they are diagnosed. Early notifications allow earlier evaluation of contacts, especially children, in terms of the need for tuberculosis prevention or tuberculosis treatment

Keywords: Notification, Surveillance, Tuberculosis