Research Story Tip: International Johns Hopkins Study Says Broad Measures Needed to Prevent TB Spread in India

Post Date: 
2020-08-06


"The research team that conducted the study in India was directed by Amita Gupta, M.D., professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The data analysis was led by Mandar Paradkar, M.B.B.S., D.C.H., M.P.H., study coordinator at the BJGMC Clinical Research Site in Pune, in coordination with U.S. senior author Robert Bollinger, M.D., the Raj and Kamla Gupta Professor of Infectious Diseases and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.



For their study, the researchers in India enrolled 1,051 adults in the cities of Pune and Chennai who had been exposed to someone in their household with pulmonary TB. The 997 participants who completed the study were screened for both TB infection (presence of the bacteria) and TB disease using clinical, microbiologic and radiologic methods at enrollment, at sometime between four and six months, and at 12 and 24 months.



" 'We found that 707 of the 997 participants, or 71%, tested positive for TB infection at the start, and 20, or 2%, subsequently developed the disease during 24-month follow-up period,” says Paradkar. “Based on these numbers, we estimate that that 12 people per 1,000 per year will get TB disease through a household contact. This is a large enough rate to support the new WHO guidelines for stopping the spread of the bacteria, calling for all residents in households with TB present to receive therapy without needing to first be tested for infection.' "