Author/Authors :
Atif, Muhammad Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, Malaysia , Sulaiman, Azhar Syed Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, Malaysia , Shafie, Asrul Akmal Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, Malaysia , ASIF, MUHAMMAD Universiti Sains Malaysia - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Department of Pharmacology, Malaysia , Jamshed, Shazia Qasim International Islamic University - School of Pharmacy, Malaysia
Abstract :
Contact tracing is the most commonly employed process of identifying the relevant contacts of a person with an infectious disease. A systematic review and meta-analysis on contact tracing of tuberculosis (TB) suspects has shown that the yield of household contact investigation in low- and middle-income countries was 6.5 %. However, a recent study from Malaysia has shown the yield of TB contact tracing as low as 0.49 %. Engaging community pharmacists and alternative practitioners in tracing TB suspects in Malaysia is context-specific and can significantly decrease transmission and incidence of the disease.
