Intensified tuberculosis case finding amongst vulnerable communities in southern India

India mainly uses passive case finding to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients through the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). An intensified case finding (ICF) intervention was conducted among vulnerable communities in two districts of Karnataka during July– December 2013; 658 sputum smear-positive TB cases were detected. The study shows that the number of smear-positive cases detected increased by 8.8% relative to the pre-intervention period (July–December 2012) in intervention communities as compared to an 8.6% decrease in communities without the ICF intervention. ICF activities brought TB services closer to vulnerable communities, moderately increasing TB case detection rates.