https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2563

Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in household contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis, time to treat

Vol. 94 No. 1 (2024)
Submitted: February 23, 2023
Accepted: May 12, 2023
Published: May 22, 2023
Tuberculosis, latent tuberculosis infection, Mantoux, chest X-ray
Abstract Views: 990
PDF: 452
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Authors

Vinnie Sarah Ch Sangma
Department of Critical Care, Pushpawati Singhania Hospital and Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Surabhi Jaggi
surabhijaggi@gmail.com
Department of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
Varinder Saini
Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
Deepak Aggarwal
Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
Pankaj Kumar
epartment of Pediatrics, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.
Jagdish Chander
Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India.

Treatment of latent pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in household contacts has been included in the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program to achieve the target of TB elimination by the Government of India by 2025. However, there are no clear estimates of the prevalence of latent TB among the contacts that could suggest the impact of this intervention. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of and factors predicting latent TB among household contacts with pulmonary TB. All microbiologically confirmed pulmonary TB patients registered between January 2020 and July 2021 and their household contacts were enrolled. All contacts underwent Mantoux testing to determine the prevalence of latent TB. All symptomatic patients also underwent chest radiographs and sputum examinations to diagnose active pulmonary TB. Thereafter, different demographic and clinical factors were evaluated to find predictors of latent TB using a logistic regression model. A total of 118 pulmonary TB cases and their 330 household contacts were enrolled. The prevalence of latent TB and active TB among the contacts was found to be 26.36% and 3.03%, respectively. The female gender of index TB cases was independently associated with a high proportion of latent TB cases in the family (adjusted odds ratio 2.32; 95% confidence interval 1.07-5.05; p=0.03). Neither the higher sputum smear positivity nor the severity of the chest radiograph of index TB cases had any association with the number of contacts being diagnosed as latent TB or active TB. The results showed a significant prevalence of latent TB among household contacts with pulmonary TB. The severity of the disease in the index patient had no association with the prevalence of latent TB.

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Ethics Approval

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Government Medical College and Hospital (No.GMCH/IEC/2019/142/).

How to Cite

Sangma, Vinnie Sarah Ch, Surabhi Jaggi, Varinder Saini, Deepak Aggarwal, Pankaj Kumar, and Jagdish Chander. 2023. “Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Household Contacts of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Time to Treat”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 94 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2563.
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