Asymptomatic tuberculosis: undetected and underestimated, but not unimportant

Tuberculosis encompasses a range of disease presentations, from active tuberculosis that can be asymptomatic (subclinical tuberculosis) to symptomatic disease. The terminology in this area remains a subject of debate.

To address this, the International Consensus for Early Tuberculosis framework employed a Delphi process to propose a framework for defining an asymptomatic phenotype. The WHO has adopted the term "asymptomatic tuberculosis" to replace "subclinical tuberculosis" in 2024.

It is anticipated that the definition of asymptomatic tuberculosis will continue to evolve as more data become available and new diagnostic tools are developed.