The age of tuberculosis patients will continue to rise with the improvement of the epidemiologic situation, resulting from an ever-improving quality of the NTEP in curtailing transmission. This prediction is epidemiologically coherent and is a sequitur for any tuberculosis epidemic in decline. It is not as paradoxically as it may seem also clearly a success story. Associated problems of care seeking, diagnosis, co-morbidity and with treatment and its tolerance among the elderly will remain critical and potentially increasing challenges for the NTEP. Certain interventions that have as an important place among younger population segments (notably preventive therapy for presumed latent infection that can potentially progress to overt tuberculosis) can only play a niche role among the elderly if any.

Hans L. Rieder et al, Indian Journal of Tuberculosis 2022(2) ; 69, S193-S195