Early Clearance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: The INFECT Case Contact Cohort Study in Indonesia

Background Early clearance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the eradication of infection before an adaptive immune response develops. We aimed to identify host factors associated with early clearance. Methods Indonesian household contacts patients with smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) had an interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) at baseline and 14 weeks later. Early clearance was defined as a persistently negative IGRA. Contact characteristics, exposure, and disease phenotype were assessed for association with a positive IGRA at each time point. Results Of 1347 contacts of 462 TB cases, 780 (57.9%) were IGRA positive and 490 (36.3%) were IGRA negative. After 14 weeks, 116 of 445 (26.1%) initially negative contacts were IGRA converters; 317 (71.2%) remained persistently negative. BCG vaccination reduced the risk of a positive baseline IGRA (relative risk [RR], 0.89 [95% confidence interval {CI} .83-.97]; P = .01), and strongly reduced the risk of IGRA conversion (RR, 0.56 [95% CI, .40-.77]; P Conclusions A quarter of household TB case contacts were early clearers. Protection against M. tuberculosis infection was strongly associated with BCG vaccination. Lower protection from BCG with increasing M. tuberculosis exposure and age can inform vaccine development.