title: A rapid assessment of prevailing policies on tuberculosis contact investigation.
abstract: Contact investigation contributes to improving early case detection of tuberculosis (TB). However, its implementation in low-income, high TB burden countries remains limited. A multicountry survey of contact investigation policies was conducted to evaluate the extent of their implementation.  Our results showed significant heterogeneity in definitions and procedures, with over 25% of countries unable to provide a clear definition of a contact. Estimates indicate that routine implementation of contact investigation policies globally could help detection of over a quarter of a million  cases. International guidelines should be developed to support national TB programmes to initiate and scale up systematic TB contact investigation.
authors: Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. tjhwang@college.harvard.edu
authors: T J
authors: TJ
authors: Hwang
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Ottmani
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Uplekar
mesh_terms: D016358:Contact Tracing / Q000379:methods*; D003906:Developing Countries; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control