SynthesisImmunity, inflammation and disease2024
Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in Asian nations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in Malaysia: the first systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Age-stratified prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: a facility-based cross-sectional study.IJID regions · 2026Article
- Seven-year surveillance of latent tuberculosis infection using interferon-gamma release assay among health workers at a large tertiary hospital in Thailand.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Epidemiological trajectories and predictive modeling of latent tuberculosis prevalence in South Asia: an in-depth global burden of disease analysis (1990-2021) with advanced forecasting to 2050.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026Article
- Alterations in the Immune Response in Individuals with Latent Tuberculosis Infection.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Review
- Antitubercular therapy for uveitis of undetermined cause with positive interferon-gamma release assay: a single-blind, single-centre, phase 2 randomised controlled trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Advancement in diagnostic approaches for latent tuberculosis: distinguishing recent from remote infections.One health outlook · 2025Review
- The characteristics of latent tuberculosis infection and its influencing factors in hospitalized patients in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.PloS one · 2025Article
- Association of clinical laboratory parameters with latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers of primary health centers-A cross-sectional observational study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Advances in the Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Review
- Analysis of Lymphocyte Immunologic Indexes in the Early Diagnosis of Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis of Adolescents in China.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Article
- Article
- Test and treat approach for tuberculosis infection amongst household contacts of drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis, Mumbai, India.Frontiers in tuberculosis · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 10 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health concern around the world including Asia. TB burden is high in Asian countries and significant population harbor latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI).
aimThis systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the prevalence of LTBI in Asian countries.
methodWe performed a systematic literature search on PubMed, Embase, and ScienceDirect to identify relevant articles published between January 1, 2005, and January 1, 2023 investigating the overall prevalence of latent TB among people of Asia. Subgroup analysis was done for Asian subregions during the study period of 2011 to 2016 and 2017 to 2023, for tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon gamma release assay (IGRA), respectively, as well as for QuantiFERON-TB (QFT) and TSPOT TB tests. Der Simonian and Laird's random-effects model was used to pool the prevalence of LTBI found using TST and IGRA.
resultA total of 15 studies were included after a systematic search from standard electronic databases. The analysis showed that the prevalence of latent TB in Asia was 21% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 19%-23%) and 36% (95% CI: 12%-59%) according to IGRAs and TSTs (cut off 10 mm) results, respectively. Based on IGRA, the prevalence of latent TB was 20% (95% CI: 13%-25%) in 2011 to 2016 and 21% (95% CI: 18%-24%) in 2017 to 2023. Using QFT, the prevalence was 19% (95% CI: 17%-22%) and using TSPOT, the prevalence was 26% (95% CI: 21%-31%). According to the United Nations division of Asia, the prevalence was higher for the Southern region and least for the Western region using TST and higher in the South-Eastern region and least in the Western region using the IGRA test.
conclusionAlmost a quarter of the Asian population has LTBI. Its diagnosis often poses a diagnostic challenge due to the unavailability of standard test in certain areas. Given this prevalence, a mass screening program is suggested with the available standard test and public awareness along with anti-TB regimen should be considered for individuals who test positive. However, for it to be implemented effectively, we need to take the affordability, availability, and cost-effectiveness of such interventions into account.
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