| Sumario: | One of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the period 2015-2030 is to end the global TB epidemic. In line with this target, the WHO End TB Strategy, approved by the World Health Assembly in 2014, calls for a 90% reduction in TB deaths and an 80% decrease in the TB incidence rate by 2030. The strategy emphasizes the need for prevention across all approaches, including infection prevention and control (IPC) in health care services and other settings where the risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission is high. IPC practices are vital to reduce the risk of M. tuberculosis transmission, by reducing the concentration of infectious droplet nuclei in the air and the exposure of susceptible individuals to such aerosols. Initial WHO recommendations on TB IPC focused primarily on decreasing the risk of transmission in health care facilities in resource-limited settings.17,18 These initial recommendations were then expanded in 2009 to provide further guidance on the use of specific measures for health care facilities, congregate settings and households. After the 2009 guidelines had been in effect for almost 10 years, the need for an update was anticipated, to provide a revised evidence assessment, reinforcing earlier recommendations and linking to core components of effective IPC programmes overall. The present updated guidelines also stress the importance of implementing IPC measures in a systematic and objective way that prioritizes consideration of the hierarchy of IPC controls.
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