TB Competence Centre, Swiss Lung Association, Chutzenstrasse 10, 3007 Berne, Switzerland.
Int J Infect Dis. 2020 Mar;92S:S55-S59. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.02.013. Epub 2020 Feb 27.
Contact investigation is the search for secondary cases of tuberculosis (TB) or latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among contacts of patients with a transmissible form of TB, usually smear-positive pulmonary disease. The aim is to detect those who have already started developing TB in order to initiate treatment as soon as possible and prevent further transmission of the disease, and also to detect those who have been infected and could benefit from a preventive treatment before the development of TB. The implementation of preventive therapy for persons with the highest risk of developing TB, that is the reduction of the pool of future cases of TB, is now considered one of the activities able to support a decline in the prevalence of TB. This implies that the search for infected contacts and the prevention of TB should be performed in parallel with diagnostic and curative activities. The implementation of screening activities, at least for exposed children and immunocompromised persons, seems to be feasible without unaffordable costs, even in high TB burden settings.
接触者调查是在有传染性肺结核（TB）或潜伏性结核感染（LTBI）的患者的接触者中寻找继发性结核病（TB）或潜伏性结核感染（LTBI），通常是涂片阳性的肺部疾病。其目的是发现那些已经开始发展为结核病的患者，以便尽快开始治疗，防止疾病进一步传播，同时也发现那些已经感染但在发展为结核病之前可以受益于预防性治疗的患者。对那些最有可能发展为结核病的人实施预防性治疗，即减少未来结核病病例的数量，现在被认为是能够支持结核病发病率下降的活动之一。这意味着，寻找感染接触者和预防结核病的工作应与诊断和治疗活动并行开展。开展筛查活动，至少对接触过的儿童和免疫功能低下者进行筛查，似乎是可行的，不会造成无法承受的费用，即使在结核病负担较高的环境中也是如此。
