Terminology
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) | Mtb is the primary organism responsible for TB infection and disease. |
| Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) | Evidence of infection with TB without evidence of clinical manifestations of active TB disease. Detection of latent infection currently is only achievable via indirect testing of an individual’s immune response to Mtb antigen either using a tuberculin skin test (TST) or an interferon gamma release assay test. |
| Active TB | Active TB disease refers to the range of clinical manifestations that occurs in people who become unwell when they are infected with Mtb. This is distinct from LTBI which does not result in illness. In reality, LTBI and active TB are not distinct clinical entities but rather exist on a continuum.106 |
| Ocular TB | Ocular TB in this context refers to any intraocular abnormality that is considered to be secondary to exposure to Mtb. This may be due to either direct infection or an immune response caused by a reaction to extraocular mycobacterial epitopes. In all cases, ocular TB should be treated as active TB disease. |