Airborne Preventive Measures to Reduce New TB Infections in Household Contacts

Tuberculosis (TB) is currently one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent (ranking above HIV/AIDS). The investigators hypothesize that reducing respiratory exposure within the household, during the first weeks of TB treatment initiation of the index case, can reduce new TB infections in close contacts. For this purpose, a pilot, controlled, pre-post study will be set up, to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a bundle of respiratory precautions to all household contacts of new pulmonary TB cases, compared to standard of care, in primary health care in a high TB incidence area in Santiago, Chile.