ReacciónThe update of this operational handbook on tuberculosis (TB) was led by Nazir Ahmed Ismail, Patricia Hall-Eidson, Carl-Michael Nathanson and Alexei Korobitsyn, with support from Cecily Miller, Dennis Falzon, Avinash Kanchar and Matteo Zignol, under the overall direction of Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the World Health Organization Global Programme on Tuberculosis & Lung Health (WHO/GTB). WHO/GTB gratefully acknowledges Thomas Shinnick, independent consultant, Atlanta (GA), United States of America (USA), for his work on parts of the handbook covering the initial diagnosis of TB disease, and Richard (Dick) Menzies, Lika Apriani and Anete Trajman from the McGill International TB Centre, Canada, for their work on the parts covering testing for TB infection included in Annex 4.
This handbook was developed based on outcomes from a guideline development group (GDG) and technical advisory group (TAG); all recommendations, classification of tools and inclusion of tools in classes are based on decisions from previous GDG and TAG meetings. The inclusion of new interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions is based on the outcomes of the TAG meeting held on 20–23 January 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO is grateful for the support of the following TAG members who have contributed to the review of the document: Heidi Albert, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), South Africa; Khalide Azam, Southern Africa Tuberculosis Health System Support Project: East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community, United Republic of Tanzania; Daniela Maria Cirillo, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italy; Christopher Coulter, Queensland Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory, Australia; Valeriu Crudu, National TB Reference Laboratory, Republic of Moldova; Claudia Denkinger, University of Heidelberg, Germany; Nguyen Van Hung, National TB Reference Laboratory, Viet Nam; Farzana Ismail, National Institute for Communicable Diseases/National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa; Irina Lyadova, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, the Russian Federation; Sandeep Meharwal, FHI360, Thailand; Mark Nicol, University of Western Australia, Australia; Shaheed V Omar, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the National Health Laboratory Service, South Africa; Vithal Prasad Myneedu, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) TB and HIV/AIDS Centre, Nepal; Alaine Umubyeyi Nyaruhirira, Management Sciences for Health, South Africa; Madhukar Pai, McGill University, Canada; Paulo Redner, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil; Sadia Shakoor, Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan; Siva Kumar Shanmugam, Council of Medical Research, India; Xin Shen, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China; Thomas Shinnick, independent consultant, USA; Sabira Tahseen, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Pakistan; and Yanlin Zhao, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China.
Christopher Dobosz developed all figures.