Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report/98247...ill-overlooked

Maternal and paediatric tuberculosis still overlooked

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 June 2013 (IRIN) - The global target of a 50 percent reduction in tuberculosis (TB) by 2015 may already have been achieved, but TB remains a neglected disease among women and young children, say health experts...

...Though seen as a ?man?s disease? due to the higher infection rate among men worldwide, said Getahun, it is actually one of the top (and under-diagnosed) killers of women. In 2011 some 300,000 HIV-negative women and 200,000 women living with HIV died of TB-related causes.

?There are several social factors that contribute to women getting diagnosed later, like the stigma associated with TB. Also, in pregnant women, TB symptoms are masked,? Getahun said...