TY - JOUR T1 - Numbers needed to treat to prevent tuberculosis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1838 LP - 1839 DO - 10.1183/13993003.01179-2015 VL - 46 IS - 6 AU - Alberto Matteelli AU - Knut Lönnroth AU - Haileyesus Getahun AU - Dennis Falzon AU - Giovanni Battista Migliori AU - Mario Raviglione Y1 - 2015/12/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/6/1838.abstract N2 - We thank Martina Sester and colleagues for their careful reading of our paper [1] and for their support to the prospect of tuberculosis (TB) elimination in low-incidence countries in a foreseeable future. While we respect the views of the authors that the targets may appear too ambitious, we believe that, if the scientific community stay focussed on innovative approaches that can translate into scalable and effective interventions, we could reap the benefits of such interventions within the space of the next two decades [2]. Figure 1 shows the trend in TB incidence into the future, should current efforts to control TB – including the treatment of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI) – be intensified and boosted by new techniques and approaches.Continued research is crucial to reach elimination targets, which will be unattainable unless new tools are developed http://ow.ly/TFYNiThis article is one of a selection of articles published as ERJ Open papers, as part of an initiative agreed between the European Respiratory Society and the World Health Organization. ER -