30 May 2025 • A large study following nearly 60,000 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients found their risk of developing active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) was over three times higher than matched controls, despite routine TB screening before biological therapy.

Seropositive RA patients faced a 3.2-fold increased risk, while seronegative patients had a 2.5-fold increase.

Those treated with biological or targeted synthetic and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) had the highest risk—nearly 4.7 times that of controls—compared to 2.9 times in patients not exposed to these drugs.

Male sex, underweight status, and diabetes also raised TB risk within the RA population.

These findings underscore the need for tailored TB screening strategies in RA patients, particularly considering serostatus and treatment exposure, to better prevent tuberculosis in this vulnerable group.

Source: ERS | Read Full Story