ANNEX IIU.K.

3. CASE DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES U.K.

3.49.TUBERCULOSISU.K.

Clinical Criteria U.K.

Any person with the following two:

  • Signs, symptoms and/or radiological findings consistent with active tuberculosis in any site

    AND

  • A clinician's decision to treat the person with a full course of anti-tuberculosis therapy

OR

A case discovered post-mortem with pathological findings consistent with active tuberculosis that would have indicated anti-tuberculosis antibiotic treatment had the patient been diagnosed before dying

Laboratory Criteria U.K.
Laboratory criteria for case confirmation U.K.

At least one of the following two:

  • Isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (excluding Mycobacterium bovis-BCG) from a clinical specimen

  • Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex nucleic acid in a clinical specimen AND positive microscopy for acid-fast bacilli or equivalent fluorescent staining bacilli on light microscopy

Laboratory criteria for a probable case U.K.

At least one of the following three:

  • Microscopy for acid-fast bacilli or equivalent fluorescent staining bacilli on light microscopy

  • Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex nucleic acid in a clinical specimen

  • Histological appearance of granulomata

Epidemiological Criteria NA

Case Classification U.K.
A.

Possible case

Any person meeting the clinical criteria

B.

Probable case

Any person meeting the clinical criteria and the laboratory criteria for a probable case

C.

Confirmed case

Any person meeting the clinical and the laboratory criteria for case confirmation

Antimicrobial resistance U.K.

The results of antimicrobial susceptibility tests must be reported according to the methods and criteria agreed between ECDC and Member States as specified by the European Reference Laboratory Network for Tuberculosis and the European Tuberculosis Surveillance Network(1).

(1)

The criteria for reporting are included each year in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control/WHO Regional Office for Europe report on Tuberculosis surveillance and monitoring in Europe. www.ecdc.europa.eu.