LATENT TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION: NEED FOR A GOLD STANDARD TESTING METHODOLOGY

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a matter of global threat as it is one of the major causes of deaths worldwide. Latent Tuberculosis screening is an important factor in controlling the development of Tuberculosis disease across the globe. This study aims at the importance of Tuberculosis detection at latent stage. It further explores the benefits and drawbacks of testing methodologies used for Latent Tuberculosis diagnosis. The lack of gold standard test significantly impacts the rate for Tuberculosis infection. The study emphasizes on the need of a better testing methodology for developing countries to combat Tuberculosis burden. Existing issues pertaining to the availability of tests in resource-limited settings, cost-efficacy for low-income groups and awareness about the infection at the latent stage of Tuberculosis have been discussed in this literature review. It is important to discuss high risk population, specifically healthcare workers and defining test regularity for them. A study design to track the high-risk population can contribute in keeping a check at Tuberculosis infection. This article focuses on the need for a gold standard test for latent Tuberculosis infection at low cost. The study finds that a new testing methodology has not been introduced in the last ten years which is better than existing ones in terms of accuracy. It is necessary to develop a testing methodology that can differentiate between the Latent Tuberculosis infection and active Tuberculosis with Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) strain. In this exploratory research, secondary data is used as a tool for the study. Electronic databases have been used for the review.