New recommendation on environmental testing for tuberculosis published

The last update of the DZK's "Recommendations for environmental testing for tuberculosis" was more than 12 years ago. In the meantime, additional knowledge has been gained on in vitro methods for the diagnosis of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) and on preventive therapy. This and a number of other new aspects make it necessary to update the previous recommendations once again. They set new priorities by

• The new regulation now allows the equal use of primary testing with interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) alongside the tuberculin skin test (THT) for contact persons under the age of 5,
• an extension of the indication for preventive treatment of LTBI to people over the age of 50,
• the description of the importance of protective masks in the selection of contact persons for environmental testing.

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