More Evidence to Support Screening of Child Contacts of Tuberculosis Cases: If Not Now, Then When?

Evidence that informs the rationale for screening of children who are close contacts of a case of tuberculosis and for providing preventive therapy for this high-risk group has been available for>50 years [1, 2]. The policy is almost universally accepted, being included in global and almost all national tuberculosis control program guidelines [3]. However, in practice it is rarely implement-ed except in low-tuberculosis-burden, re-source-rich settings [4]. Contact screening has 2 main roles. One is to identify at-risk contacts such as young or human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV)–infected children who require preventive therapy. The othe