Primary care-based TB screening proposed for UK

Public Health England has highlighted the potential benefits of implementing a primary care-based screening programme for tuberculosis (TB) in the UK.

A comment from Public Health England published in medical journal The Lancet has highlighted the weaknesses of the current screening programme for active TB prior to arrival to the UK, as it does not detect latent TB infection in at-risk groups such as UK-based immigrants, disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, or people on immunosuppressive therapy.

As such, it is expected that the UK will have more TB cases than the US within two years if current trends continue, meaning a quality-assured primary care-based screening initiative could be hugely beneficial.

This would involve screening for latent TB among high-risk groups, such as people aged 16 to 35 years who have entered the UK in the past five years from a country with an incidence of 150 cases per 100,000 or higher.

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director at Public Health England, said: "We are determined to see a sustained reduction in TB and will work tirelessly to implement evidence-based national strategies and to support local partners in those areas where the burden is greatest."

In 2011, 8,963 cases of TB were reported in the UK, with more than 6,000 of these affecting people who were born outside the country.