According to a study published in The Lancet Global Health, a monthly food basket with adequate protein, combined with effective treatment, almost halves new cases of TB among family members of TB patients in India.
An international team of researchers recruited 2,800 patients with confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis in 28 TB units of the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program in four districts of Jharkhand.

Family contacts in the intervention group received monthly food rations and micronutrients (750 kcal, 23 grams of protein per day with micronutrients).
After all household contacts were screened for concurrent TB, all participants were actively followed until July 31, 2022, for the primary outcome of incident TB.

Between August 2019 and January 2021, there were 10,345 household contacts, including 5,328 (94.8 percent) of 5,621 household contacts in the intervention group and 4,283 (90.7 percent) of 4,724 household contacts in the control group. primary outcome assessment. Almost two-thirds of the population belonged to indigenous communities (eg Santhals, Ho, Munda, Oraon and Bhumij) and 34% (3543/10345) were malnourished.
The study found that the incidence of tuberculosis decreased from 39% (all forms) to 48% (microbiologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis) in the intervention group.

According to the researchers, about 30 households (111 contacts) would need the supplement to prevent one case of tuberculosis.
"Food is an important adjunct to TB treatment to save lives and achieve better outcomes," study lead author Anurag Bhargava, professor at Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore Center for Nutrition Research, tweeted on Wednesday.