Exposed! Management of MDR-TB household contacts in an evidence light era

Abstract

Until the three ongoing randomised controlled trials of preventive therapy are completed, there remains a large knowledge gap about how individuals known to have been exposed to multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) should be managed. The evolving paradigms and improving outcomes from treatment of active MDR-TB disease play in to discussions about the relative merits and importance of intensive surveillance and/or preventive therapy for MDR-TB contacts. Keywords: MDR-TB, Multidrug resistant tuberculosis, Contact, Exposure, Preventive therapy