Abstract
Introduction: persons in close proximity with Tuberculosis (TB) patients are at risk of TB infection. Contact investigation (CI) has not been scaled up to full implementation by the National Tuberculosis Program in Kenya. As part of a TB household CI study, we documented key concerns that the TB program in Kenya need to consider when transitioning from routine contact invitation to standardized contact investigation.
Highlights
Persons in close proximity with Tuberculosis (TB) patients are at risk of TB infection
In 2006, The Wolfheze conferences of the World Health Organization (WHO), International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung disease (IUATLD) and Koninklijke Nederlandse Centrale Vereniging tot bestrijding der Tuberculose (Dutch Tuberculosis Foundation-KNCV) Tuberculosis recommended that; 90% of TB index cases should have at least one contact screened for TB, 90% of high priority contacts should be evaluated and 80% of all contacts should be screened within 3-4 months of a TB diagnosis in the index case and 85% of contacts with latent TB infection (LTBI) should be put on chemoprophylaxis with at least 75% of them completing treatment [1]
Issues that were encountered during the implementation of the study with regards to contact investigation included: Identification and recruitment of index cases and their household contacts: Only 554 (19%) of the 2,936 TB index cases that were diagnosed in Kisumu County during the study period, were recruited into the study; of these 527 (95%) listed a total of 1974 household contacts
Summary
Persons in close proximity with Tuberculosis (TB) patients are at risk of TB infection. As part of a TB household CI study, we documented key concerns that the TB program in Kenya need to consider when transitioning from routine contact invitation to standardized contact investigation. Contacts should be invited within 7 days of a TB diagnosis of an index case for screening; repeat screening of the contacts should be done after 2 months of initial screening [3]. This is to cater for the window period of infection [4]; in the literature among contacts who screened smear negative at initial screening, 49% were still symptomatic at month one of follow up and 12% of them were diagnosed with TB [5]. For ethical reasons, if a TB diagnosis could be excluded at initial screening, effective preventive therapy could be administered [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
