Patients with Smear-Negative TB Can Transmit Infection

In a large cohort analysis of clustered cases, about 13% of cases were attributable to transmission from patients with smear-negative pulmonary TB.

Although patients with sputum smear–negative, culture-positive pulmonary TB can transmit infection, they have been presumed to be far less infectious than patients who are sputum smear–positive. However, quantitative data are limited regarding the proportion of TB transmission that is attributable to patients with smear-negative, culture-positive disease.

To explore this issue, researchers examined information for all patients who were diagnosed with TB in the Netherlands between 1996 and 2004. Using a national DNA fingerprint database of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, the investigators were able to determine which cases were clustered and represented transmission of the same organism. They analyzed 394 clusters that began during the s…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Patients with Smear-Negative TB Can Transmit Infection

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Reviewing Author