Screening For TB

The fact that over one-quarter of humanity has latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection attests to the vast evolutionary success of the etiologic agent of tuberculosis (TB). Over a life-time, 7 to 10% of nonimmune compromised people with latent infection will progress to TB disease as the result. This provides a continuum of transmission to nave persons, in whom TB disease develops at its greatest rate in the first 1-2 years after infection. M. tuberculosis, a member of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC), diversifies through gene deletion as a means to further adapt to humans (and non-human primates). For universal symptom screening for TB at health centers, one must simultaneously screen for HIV infection, since TB is the earliest and most common opportunistic infection in persons living with HIV/ AIDS (PLHIV).

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Last date updated on April, 2024