Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013:2013:828939.
doi: 10.1155/2013/828939. Epub 2013 Feb 12.

Risk factors for tuberculosis

Padmanesan Narasimhan  1 , James Wood, Chandini Raina Macintyre, Dilip Mathai
Affiliations

Risk factors for tuberculosis

Padmanesan Narasimhan et al. Pulm Med. 2013.

Abstract

The risk of progression from exposure to the tuberculosis bacilli to the development of active disease is a two-stage process governed by both exogenous and endogenous risk factors. Exogenous factors play a key role in accentuating the progression from exposure to infection among which the bacillary load in the sputum and the proximity of an individual to an infectious TB case are key factors. Similarly endogenous factors lead in progression from infection to active TB disease. Along with well-established risk factors (such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), malnutrition, and young age), emerging variables such as diabetes, indoor air pollution, alcohol, use of immunosuppressive drugs, and tobacco smoke play a significant role at both the individual and population level. Socioeconomic and behavioral factors are also shown to increase the susceptibility to infection. Specific groups such as health care workers and indigenous population are also at an increased risk of TB infection and disease. This paper summarizes these factors along with health system issues such as the effects of delay in diagnosis of TB in the transmission of the bacilli.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk factors for Tuberculosis infection and disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sutherland I. The Ten-Year Incidence of Clinical Tuberculosis Following “Conversion” in 2550 Individuals Aged 14 To 19 Years. The Hague, Netherlands: 1968.
    1. Maher D. The natural history of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in adults. In: Schaaf HS, Zumla A, editors. Tuberculosis: A Comprehensive Clinical Reference. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2009. pp. 129–132.
    1. Sutherland I. Recent studies in the epidemiology of tuberculosis, based on the risk of being infected with tubercle bacilli. Advances in Tuberculosis Research. 1976;19:1–63. - PubMed
    1. Vynnycky E, Fine PEM. The natural history of tuberculosis: the implications of age-dependent risks of disease and the role of reinfection. Epidemiology and Infection. 1997;119(2):183–201. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Selwyn PA, Hartel D, Lewis VA, et al. A prospective study of the risk of tuberculosis among intravenous drug users with human immunodeficiency virus infection. The New England Journal of Medicine. 1989;320(9):545–550. - PubMed