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鈥揇ecember 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鈥揇ecember 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鈥檚 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