Intensified tuberculosis case finding amongst vulnerable communities in southern India

An intensified case finding intervention was conducted among vulnerable communities in 2 districts of Karnataka during 2013

Abstract

India mainly uses passive case finding to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients through the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). An intensified case finding (ICF) intervention was conducted among vulnerable communities in 2 districts of Karnataka during July–December 2013; 658 sputum smear-positive TB cases were detected. The number of smear-positive cases detected increased by 8.8% relative to the pre-intervention period (July–December 2012) in intervention communities as compared to an 8.6% decrease in communities without the ICF intervention. ICF activities brought TB services closer to vulnerable communities, moderately increasing TB case detection rates.

This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)

Citation

K. K. Reddy, R. Ananthakrishnan, A. G. Jacob, M. Das, P. Isaakidis, A. M. V. Kumar (2015) Intensified tuberculosis case finding amongst vulnerable communities in southern India. Public Health Action vol 5 no 4 https://dx.doi.org/10.5588%2Fpha.15.0048

Intensified tuberculosis case finding amongst vulnerable communities in southern India

Published 21 December 2015