Potential value of urine lateral-flow lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test for diagnosing tuberculosis among severely acute malnourished children

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious co-morbidity among children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and TB diagnosis remains particularly challenging in the very young. We explored whether, in a low HIV-prevalence setting, the detection of mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigen in urine may assist TB diagnosis in SAM children, a pediatric population currently not included in LAM-testing recommendations. To that end, we assessed LAM test-positivity among SAM children with and without signs or symptoms of TB. A cross-sectional assessment (February 2016-August 2017) included children