WHO Updates TB Prevention Guidelines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its guidelines on tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment.

The guidelines are the first to be released under the new WHO consolidated TB guidelines (Module 1 – Prevention) rubric, which will eventually group together all of WHO’s TB guidelines and include matching modules from an operational handbook.

The update includes 18 recommendations on TB preventive treatment, with the main change being the introduction of conditional recommendations for a 1-month daily rifapentine and isoniazid regimen and a 4-month daily rifampicin regimen as alternative treatment options in all TB burden settings.

“The operational limitations that need to be overcome by countries to achieve global targets are highlighted and will be discussed in greater detail in the accompanying operational handbook that is being released concurrently. The guidelines are to be used primarily in national TB and HIV programmes, or their equivalents in ministries of health, and for other policy-makers working on TB and HIV and infectious diseases in public and private sectors and in the community,” they wrote.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis: module 1: prevention: tuberculosis preventive treatment. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications-detail/who-consolidated-guidelines-on-tuberculosis-module-1-prevention-tuberculosis-preventive-treatment. Published March 24, 2020. Accessed March 25, 2020.