Location: Namibia// Organization: Delft Imaging
Introduction
Asmptomatic TB is rapidly emerging as a state that warrants attention. The study aimed to determine the proportion of subclinical TB among newly bacteriologically positive TB patients using three definitions.
Intervention
- Conducted voluntary TB screening campaigns in hard-to-reach and underserved communities.
- Each participant was asked about symptoms and had a chest radiograph read by CAD4TB with a threshold of 50. Those with positive screen were offered sputum testing with Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra.
Result
- Among 18,662 participants, 15,047 (81%) had radiographs, and 2,806 had sputum results. 97 new bacteriologically positive TB cases were detected (prevalence is 520/100k). 14.4% of patients were negative for any of the four symptoms.
Proportion of subclinical TB was:
- Screening negative for any cough: 18.5%
- Negative for prolonged cough: 41.2%
- Negative for any W4SS: 14.4%
Conclusion
- Subclinical TB is a significant issue. Using prolonged cough to screen for symptoms misses almost half of TB cases.
- Using the W4SS or a more inclusive screening regimen defines subclinical TB that misses the least number of cases.
REFERENCE: Ruswa, N. et al (2024, November 12-16). Occurrence of subclinical Tb in a community active case finding campaign [Presentation]. The Union World Conference on Lung Health, Bali, Indonesia.
