ArticleBMC infectious diseases2018
Yield of household contact tracing for tuberculosis in rural South Africa.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Symptom- and chest-radiography screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV-negative adults and adults with unknown HIV status.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Household- Versus Incentive-Based Contact Investigation for Tuberculosis in Rural South Africa: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Trial
- Household Contact Tracing With Intensified Tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening in South Africa: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Trial
- Contact tracing versus facility-based screening for active TB case finding in rural South Africa: A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial (Kharitode TB).PLoS medicine · 2019Trial
- The impact and cost of using mobile digital X-ray units to detect pulmonary TB in South Africa.IJTLD open · 2026Article
- Article
- Prevalence, risk factors, and rifampicin resistance pattern ofParasite epidemiology and control · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis among suspected patients in Sawla General Hospital, Gofa Zone, Southern Ethiopia: a hospital-based cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Implementing active surveillance for tuberculosis: A quality improvement project.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2025Article
- Evaluating Treatment Outcomes and Tuberculosis Infection Risks: A Comparative Study of Centralized Hospitalization vs. Home-Based Treatment.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Article
- Tuberculosis contact tracing, Angola.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2024Article
- Community-supported self-administered tuberculosis treatment combined with active tuberculosis screening: a pilot experience in Conakry, Guinea.Global health action · 2023Article
- Prevalence of subclinical pulmonary tuberculosis and its association with HIV in household contacts of index tuberculosis patients in two South African provinces: a secondary, cross-sectional analysis of a cluster-randomised trial.BMC global and public health · 2023Article
- Pulmonary tuberculosis vs. Tindzhaka and Mafularha: A mixed methods inquiry of traditional healers' perceptions of tuberculosis in rural South Africa.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Assessment of Smear-Positive Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Associated Factors among Patients Visiting Health Facilities of Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Tuberculosis research and treatment · 2023Article
- Article
- Spatially-targeted tuberculosis screening has limited impact beyond household contact tracing in Lima, Peru: A model-based analysis.PloS one · 2023Article
- Tuberculosis in household contacts of tuberculosis patients in sub-Saharan African countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2022Review
- Scaling up investigation and treatment of household contacts of tuberculosis patients in Brazil: a cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2022Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding childhood tuberculosis detection and management among health care providers in Cambodia: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEfficient and effective strategies for identifying cases of active tuberculosis (TB) in rural sub-Saharan Africa are lacking. Household contact tracing offers a potential approach to diagnose more TB cases, and to do so earlier in the disease course.
methodsAdults newly diagnosed with active TB were recruited from public clinics in Vhembe District, South Africa. Study staff visited index case households and collected sputum specimens for TB testing via smear microscopy and culture. We calculated the yield and the number of households needed to screen (NHNS) to find one additional case. Predictors of new TB among household contacts were evaluated using multilevel logistic regression.
resultsWe recruited 130 index cases and 282 household contacts. We identified 11 previously undiagnosed cases of bacteriologically-confirmed TB, giving a prevalence of 3.9% (95% CI: 2.0-6.9%) among contacts, a yield of 8.5 per 100 (95% CI: 4.2-15.1) index cases traced, and NHNS of 12 (95% CI: 7-24). The majority of new TB cases (10/11, 90.9%) were smear negative, culture positive. The presence of TB symptoms was not associated with an increased odds of active TB (aOR: 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1-1.4).
conclusionsHousehold contacts of recently diagnosed TB patients in rural South Africa have high prevalence of TB and can be feasibly detected through contact tracing, but more sensitive tests than sputum smear are required. Symptom screening among household contacts had low sensitivity and specificity for active TB in this study.
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