Current management options for latent tuberculosis: a review

Abstract

Tuberculosis remains the world’s second leading infectious cause of death, with nearly one-third of the global population latently infected. Treatment of latent tuberculosis infection is a mainstay of tuberculosis-control efforts in low-to medium-incidence countries. Isoniazid monotherapy has been the standard of care for decades, but its utility is impaired by poor completion rates. However, new, shorter-course regimens using rifamycins improve completion rates and are cost-saving compared with standard isoniazid monotherapy. We review the currently available therapies for latent tuberculosis infection and their toxicities and include a brief economic comparison of the different regimens.

Keywords:

• isoniazid
• rifampin
• rifapentine
• tuberculin skin test
• interferon-gamma release assay

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.