mphadsphiri/MtbBTsex

Analysis of community-based survey of Mycobacterium tuberculosis survey among adolescents and adults in Blantyre, Malawi, conducted between October 2022 and March 2024. # MtbBTsex *Title*: "Drivers of sex differences in Mycobacterium tuberculosis immunoreactivity among adolescents and adults in Blantyre, Malawi" *Authors*: Mphatso D Phiri*, Hannah M Rickman1, Hannah Mbale, Helena RA Feasey, Marriott Nliwasa, Alvaro Schwalb, Tisungane E Mwenyenkulu, Kuzani N Mbendera, Henry C Mwandumba, Elizabeth L Corbett, S Bertel Squire, Marc YR Henrion, Katherine C Horton, Peter MacPherson *Abstract*: Sex differences in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) exposure likely contribute to sex differences in tuberculosis (TB). We report the first community-based survey of Mtb immunoreactivity prevalence among adolescents and adults in Blantyre, Malawi, using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus). Of 2,833 participants, 40.0% were male, the median age was 21 years (IQR: 16-28 years), and Mtb immunoreactivity prevalence was 17.8% (95% CrI: 16.4-19.2%). Prevalence was similar by sex among 10-19- and 30-40-year-olds. However, among 20-29-olds prevalence was higher among males compared to females. The annual risk of Mtb immunoreactivity conversion increased at a faster rate among males compared to females from age 10 years, peaking at 21 years, where it was 1.58 (0.82-2.80) times higher among males compared to females. Tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking, more prevalent among males, were associated with increased immunoreactivity probability. Understanding drivers of sex-specific vulnerabilities in Mtb exposure could inform strategies to reduce sex disparities in TB. This repository contains data and R scripts used to analyse Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) immunoreactivity using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) data from a community-based prevalence survey conducted in Blantyre, Malawi. The code supports descriptive analyses, Bayesian regression modelling, and generation of tables and figures reported in the accompanying manuscript. 1. System requirements Operating systems: The code has been tested on: macOS (version 26.1) It should also run on Wi …