Congenital tuberculosis: A case report and review of the literature

Congenital tuberculosis (TB) is a rare infection transmitted from a mother to her foetus, either through an infected placenta or amniotic fluid. Congenital tuberculosis was previously thought to be rare but recent changes in the epidemiology of TB, have resulted in an increased risk.1 Affected infants usually present with non specific signs and symptoms, hence a high index of suspicion is required to make a diagnosis. Fewer than 300 cases have been reported worldwide till date1 and to the knowledge of the authors, there have been only three reported cases in Nigeria.2-4 We herein report a case of congenital tuberculosis with a review of other published cases in this high TB prevalent region of Southern Nigeria with the aim of creating awareness of its existence in this region.