• D Thind, S Charalambous, A Tongman, G Churchyard, and A D Grant.
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK. dilraj.thind@gmail.com
• Int. J. Tuberc. Lung Dis. 2012 Dec 1; 16 (12): 1643-8.

SettingRural/peri-urban community, South Africa.ObjectivesTo examine the yield of tuberculosis (TB) cases, TB preventive therapy (TBPT) initiation and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses from household TB contact tracing.DesignRetrospective programme analysis.MethodsHouseholds of index TB cases were visited and their contacts screened for TB and HIV. TB suspects provided sputum or were referred for assessment. Contacts aged <5 years were referred for assessment for TBPT initiation.ResultsThere were 732 index TB cases (67.1% HIV-positive). Among 3627 household contacts, 3573 (98.5%) had known outcomes, of which 183 (5.0%) were already on appropriate treatment. Among 3390 remaining contacts, 361 (10.6%) were aged <5 years, of whom 34 (9.4%) started anti-tuberculosis treatment and 286 (79.2%) started TBPT. Among 3029 contacts aged ≥5 years, 93 (3.1%) started anti-tuberculosis treatment: 19 (20.4%) were smear-positive and 71 (76.3%) were culture-positive. Among contacts aged ≥14 years, 794/2133 (37.2%) underwent HIV testing, of whom 208/794 (26.2%) tested positive.ConclusionsHousehold active case finding in this high TB and HIV prevalence setting obtained high yields of TB, particularly in those aged <5 years, and facilitated assessment for TBPT. There was a good yield of new HIV diagnoses, and a gain in efficiency due to integration within one programme.

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