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IntroductionChildhood pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains a diagnostic challenge. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Xpert Ultra for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in children in a low TB prevalence setting.MethodsProspective, multicentre, diagnostic accuracy study. Children with clinical or radiological suspicion of pulmonary TB were recruited at 11 paediatric units in Spain. Up to three gastric or sputum specimens were taken on 3 consecutive days, and analysed by Xpert MTB/RIF, Xpert Ultra and culture in parallel.Results86 children were included (median age 4.9 years, IQR 2.0–10.0; 51.2% male). The final diagnosis was pulmonary TB in 75 patients (87.2%); 33 (44.0%) were microbiologically confirmed. A total of 219 specimens, comprising gastric aspirates (n=194; 88.6%) and sputum specimens (n=25; 11.4%), were analysed. Using culture as reference standard and comparing individual specimens, the sensitivity was 37.8% (14/37) for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.1% (30/37) for Xpert Ultra (p<0.001); specificity was 98.4% (179/182) and 93.4% (170/182), respectively (p=0.02). In the per-patient analysis, considering positive results on any specimen, the sensitivity was 42.9% (9/21) for Xpert MTB/RIF and 81.0% for Xpert Ultra (17/21, p=0.01); specificity was 96.9% (63/65) and 87.7% (57/65, p=0.07), respectively.ConclusionsIn children with pulmonary TB in a low burden setting, Xpert Ultra has significantly higher sensitivity than the previous generation of Xpert assay and only marginally lower specificity. Therefore, in children undergoing evaluation for suspected pulmonary TB, Xpert Ultra should be used in preference to Xpert MTB/RIF whenever possible.

We describe the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis cases detailed in a 28-year (1996-2023) multicenter cohort from Spain. The case numbers remained stable during the initial prospective phase (2013-2020), but a sharp decline was observed during 2021-2022. Disease onset occurred during spring or June in 45.9% of cases. Mycobacterium avium complex (43.1%) and M. lentiflavum (39.9%) were the most common species detected. M. lentiflavum affected mostly younger children from central Spain. The most common treatment strategy was complete surgical resection with (n = 80) or without (n = 88) antimicrobial drug treatment, followed by antimicrobial drugs alone (n = 76). Facial palsy developed in 10.4% of surgical cases. Adverse events because of antimicrobial drugs were uncommon. New fistula formation during follow-up occurred more in children managed with observation alone than in those treated with antimicrobial drugs alone (relative risk 2.7 [95% CI 1.3-5.3]; p = 0.014).

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in Madrid, Spain, on 25 February 2020. It increased in frequency very fast and by the end of May more than 70,000 cases had been confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To study the lineages and the diversity of the viral population during this first epidemic wave in Madrid we sequenced 224 SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes collected from three hospitals from February to May 2020. All the known major lineages were found in this set of samples, though B.1 and B.1.5 were the most frequent ones, accounting for more than 60% of the sequences. In parallel with the B lineages and sublineages, the D614G mutation in the Spike protein sequence was detected soon after the detection of the first coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) case in Madrid and in two weeks became dominant, being found in 80% of the samples and remaining at this level during all the study periods. The lineage composition of the viral population found in Madrid was more similar to the European population than to the publicly available Spanish data, underlining the role of Madrid as a national and international transport hub. In agreement with this, phylodynamic analysis suggested multiple independent entries before the national lockdown and air transportation restrictions.