Prevalence and risk factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection among household contacts of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in South India

Abstract

I N TRODUC T IONTuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to a single infectious agent globally. In 2018, almost 10 million TB cases were reported as per WHO [1]. Worldwide, TB incidence is falling at a rate of about 2% per year. However, further efforts are needed to ramp it up to 4-5% annual decline and reach the end TB goal [1]. WHO

Strategies to detect and manage latent tuberculosis infection among household contacts of pulmonary TB patients in high TB burden countries ‐ a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…[ 40,41,55,60] Recall bias Studies that ascertained information on the care cascade from the participants reported that recall bias or the tendency to provide socially desirable answers could have resulted in under-or over-estimation of the results in the study. [12,43,51,60,70] Participants' characteristics…”

Implementation of tuberculosis preventive therapy with INH‐Rifapentine (3HP) for latent tuberculosis infection management in household tuberculosis contacts in India: A prospective study

“…In this study, nearly six in 10 TB household contacts were LTBI positive which is nearly double the prevalence in the general population [13], and also higher compared to the findings in a South Indian study (52.6%) [23]. Increasing age was the only sociodemographic factor which had significantly higher odds of LTBI positivity in the present study which is consistent with the previous evidence where association of sociodemographic factors was lacking except for sleeping on the same bed [17, 23]. These findings provide corroborative evidence and further programmatic justification to expand the coverage of TPT selectively among household TB cases in the road to TB elimination for high TB burden countries.…”

Tuberculosis epidemic in India – a systematic review

“…11,57,58 In addition to gender differences in TB prevalence, mortality rates increased dramatically with age, being 17 times higher in children under 15 years and more than twice as common in adults 60 and older than in those between the ages of 15 and 59. 1,3,4,[10][11][12]20,28,38,41,43,46,59 Furthermore, the COVID-19 reaction-induced lockdown has resulted in poverty and economic hardship, worsening food shortages and making it more difficult to provide various TB services such as prevention, surveillance, and treatment to the vulnerable segment. 13,22,31,44,60 Children with TB had significant implications or problems during the COVID epidemic, such as requiring more mechanical breathing, being hospitalized for longer periods of time, and having poorer outcomes.…”

“…1,2,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Co-morbidities that weaken the immune system and increase the risks of TB infection in people over a short period of time include undernutrition, diabetes, HIV, tobacco use, smoking, and alcohol consumption. 2,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] M. tuberculosis also has a diverse pattern of region-specific prevalence and susceptibility, genetic mutation over time, space, and environment. 23,33,34 Nearly one in every two TB patients' household contacts has latent TB, and the severity of the infection is related to the age of the household contacts.…”

“…23,33,34 Nearly one in every two TB patients' household contacts has latent TB, and the severity of the infection is related to the age of the household contacts. 28,35 Furthermore, old age group healthcare professionals are at a higher risk of developing a particularly latent TB infection due to their longer duration of employment and working in areas with high TB prevalence. 5,35,36…”