We screened 25,000+ studies (😱 - grateful for the teamwork here!) and included data from 81 population-based #IGRA & #TST surveys performed in high-TB settings since 1993 ➡️500,000 participants from 38 countries. We used Bayesian meta-analysis to analyse Mtb immunoreactivity by age and sex. 🧵
Comments
-Why? Social/behavioural differences mean adult men spend more time in high-transmission spaces, amplified by sex-assortative mixing & diagnostic delays in men 🧵
-Disparities in exposure drive disparities in disease - need to tackle transmission in workplaces, public spaces, prisons...
-Improving men's access to rx essential to interrupt transmission
-Infection-focused interventions (vaccination, TPT) need to actively engage men for efficacy. 🧵
Big thanks to all the authors who provided unpublished data (including some who dug out their floppy discs from 1998!), @britishlibrary.bsky.social for paper-hunting help, and original research participants. 🧵
(Although I still feel guilty for suggesting “why don’t you just do a quick systematic review of TB infection surveys”! 🤣)