Diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection

ABSTRACT

In order to eliminate tuberculosis worldwide by 2050, effective management of latent tuberculosis infection is essential, and policy-makers have begun to recognize the importance of scaling up preventive therapy. The current guideline recommends targeted latent tuberculosis infection testing that identifies high-risk groups based on risk stratification for progression from latent infection to active disease. Both the tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma releasing assay have a similar diagnostic efficacy for predicting progression to active tuberculosis. The Korean guideline recommends 9-month isoniazid monotherapy as the standard treatment; however, more evidence supports that short course rifampicin-based regimen is both more effective and tolerable than isoniazid monotherapy.