Research priorities for TB infection
| Areas for research | Specific areas |
| Risks of progression from TB infection to TB disease | Evaluation of the likelihood of progressing from TB infection to TB disease in the various at-risk populationsEvaluation of the incidence and risk of progression to TB disease in the following groups of patients: Diabetes mellitus Harmful alcohol use Tobacco use Underweight Silica exposure Steroid treatment Rheumatological diseases CancerEvaluation of the harms including stigmatisation and acceptability of testing and TB preventive therapy in risk groups |
| Defining the best clinical algorithm to exclude TB disease from TB infection | Performance and feasibility of these algorithms should be assessedCreating algorithms for children and pregnant womenIdentify feasible cost-effective methods for contact tracing |
| Improved diagnostic tests and defining the performance of latent TB tests in at-risk populations | Tests with improved performance and predictive value for progression to TB diseasePerformance of existing latent TB tests in at-risk populationsTests to determine TB reinfectionHow to use existing tests to best determine LTBI |