• The tuberculosis burden in Southeast Asia is high.
• The role of urban indoor air pollution in exacerbating the epidemic in this setting remains poorly understood.

Objectives:

To establish associations between latent tuberculosis and common urban indoor air pollution sources (secondhand smoke, indoor motorcycle emissions, and cooking). 

Methods: 

The study enrolled child household contacts of patients with microbiologically confirmed active tuberculosis that accounted for 72 tuberculosis patients (27% with cavitary disease) and 109 of their child household contacts.

Children were tested for latent tuberculosis and evaluation of air pollution exposures with questionnaires and personal aerosol sampling were carried out. 

Hypotheses were tested using generalized estimating equations. 

Measurements and Main Results: 

Conclusion: 

Common urban indoor air pollution sources are associated with increased odds of latent tuberculosis infection in child household contacts of active tuberculosis patients.

Reference-

Blount RJ, Phan H, Trinh T, Dang H, Merrifield C, Zavala M, Zabner J, Comellas AP, Stapleton EM, Segal MR, Balmes J, Nhung NV, Nahid P. Indoor Air Pollution and Susceptibility to Tuberculosis Infection in Urban Vietnamese Children.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 Aug 3.