At-Risk Populations For Tuberculosis

People at high risk for Tuberculosis (TB) exposure and infection include:

• Close contacts of persons exposed to contagious cases of TB
• Foreign-born persons, including children, who have immigrated within the last 5 years from areas that have a high TB incidence
• Residents and employees of high-risk congregate settings (prisons, nursing homes, homeless shelters, drug treatment facilities, and healthcare facilities)
• Healthcare workers who serve high-risk clients
• Some medically under served, low-income populations as defined locally
• High-risk racial or ethnic minority populations defined locally as having an increased prevalence of TB
• Infants, children, and adolescents exposed to adults in high-risk categories
• Persons who inject illicit drugs or any other locally identified high-risk substance users

People at high risk for progression to TB disease once infected include:

• Persons with human immunodeficiency virus HIV infection
• Persons who were infected with M. tuberculosis within the past 2 years, particularly infants and very young children
• Persons who have underlying medical conditions known to increase the risk of progression to active disease
• Persons who inject illicit drugs
• Persons with a past history of inadequately treated TB