A limited TB intervention in remote Taiwan: observations 10 years later

BACKGROUND: A brief but comprehensive TB elimination program began in a remote region of Taiwan in 1997 involving five contiguous villages (n=2308). METHODS: An aggressive intervention included tuberculin skin testing and treatment of latent TB infection. Normal program data was collected and later analyzed forming the basis of an operational research study. RESULTS: An initial 31% reduction in active TB cases (81 to 56 over 4 years) (p=0.033) was observed and persisted until the end of the 10-year follow-up period despite no further intervention. In the control population, no sustained reduction of TB was noted for the same period. CONCLUSIONS: Although encouraging, a more robust study is needed to reasonably attribute the persistence of this significantly lower TB rate to this brief intensive intervention.