Implementing tuberculosis preventive treatment in high-prevalence settings

Greg J Fox; Thu Anh Nguyen; Mikaela Coleman; Anete Trajman; Kavindhran Velen; Ben J Marais

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.02.094

Implementing tuberculosis preventive treatment in high-prevalence settings

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Dec:113 Suppl 1:S13-S15. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.02.094. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Authors

Greg J Fox¹, Thu Anh Nguyen², Mikaela Coleman³, Anete Trajman⁴, Kavindhran Velen⁵, Ben J Marais⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia; The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Glebe, NSW, 2006, Australia. Electronic address: greg.fox@sydney.edu.au.
² The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Hanoi, 10000, Viet Nam.
³ Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia; Centenary Institute, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
⁴ Social Medicine Institute, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
⁵ Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia; The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Glebe, NSW, 2006, Australia.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.

PMID: 33716196
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.02.094

Abstract

Latent tuberculosis infection affects one quarter of the world's population, and effective therapies are available. However, scale-up of tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) remains limited. We describe strategies to support scale-up of TPT in high-prevalence settings, where the potential benefit for affected individuals is considerable. Patients must be at the centre of policies to scale-up TPT. Addressing the health system requirements for scale-up will ensure that programs can deliver treatment safely, efficiently and sustainably. Further research is required to adapt TPT to local contexts, and develop new shorter treatments that will be suitable for wide-scale deployment.

Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; latent tuberculosis; patient-centered care; preventive therapy; prophylaxis.

MeSH terms

Humans
Latent Tuberculosis* / drug therapy
Latent Tuberculosis* / epidemiology
Latent Tuberculosis* / prevention & control
Policy
Prevalence