[London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine] Expert Comment: 134 Million People Living With Recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

11 May 2026

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine news release

A new mathematical modelling study estimated that approximately 134 million people worldwide were living with a recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection in 2022, representing 1.7% of the global population.

Published in PLOS Medicine, the results found that, in terms of total infections, 289 million people (3.7% of the world’s population) were harbouring a viable Mtb infection. Among those recently infected, 16 million (12%) were children under 15 years of age.

The authors constructed country-specific annual risk of infection trajectories for 171 countries from 1950 to 2022. These trajectories were adjusted to account for the systemic underestimation of risk of infection estimates and self-clearance of infection.

Read the full news release here.

Source: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine