National tuberculosis prevalence surveys: what diagnostic algorithms should be used in future?

Overview

One of the strategic areas of work of the WHO Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement is priority studies to periodically measure the burden of TB disease; this includes national TB prevalence surveys. WHO guidance on these surveys was first issued in 2007 and updated in 2011. Between 2011 and 2022, 30 national TB prevalence surveys were completed. The experience gained in these surveys as well as technological developments (notably the availability of rapid molecular tests) has implications for the diagnostic algorithms to be used in future surveys. This publication (released in May 2023) discusses the diagnostic algorithms to be used in future surveys (implemented from 2023 onwards). It provides the basis for recommendations on diagnostic algorithms to be included in the third edition of WHOguidance on national TB prevalence surveys.