Abstract

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains a diagnostic challenge, particularly in low endemic settings with ageing populations. The impact has both individual and infection control implications. Over the past 20 years, progress has been made in trying to improve TB diagnostics. International recommendations for investigation however still rely heavily on the index of suspicion, imaging and ultimately culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis which remains the gold standard for diagnosing TB disease. Recent advances include molecular diagnostics with the ability to rapidly identify TB disease and drug resistance and whole-genome sequencing. In this review, we explore the validity of TB diagnostics in the elderly to assist the practicing clinician in the diagnostic workup in this population.

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