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01/07/26

Estimating the number of incorrect tuberculosis diagnoses in low- and middle-income countries.

van Lieshout Titan, Ana; Dodd, Peter J; Cohen, Ted; Menzies, Nicolas A. Nat Med.

Collection Topics
Big Three Conditions Epidemiology Measurement, Monitoring, and Event Analysis
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Summary

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Using data reported to the World Health Organization from 111 countries, this study finds that many people tested for TB are diagnosed incorrectly. In 2023, about 2 million people may have been told they had TB when they did not, while about 1 million with TB were missed. Improving accuracy will likely require better bacteriological tests and less trust in symptoms assessment alone.

Read the paper
van Lieshout Titan A, Dodd PJ, Cohen T, et al. Estimating the number of incorrect tuberculosis diagnoses in low- and middle-income countries. Nat Med. 2026;32(2):545-552.