The diagnostic technique for multi-drug resistant TB promises to give an accurate diagnosis in 100 minutes time. The test currently takes up to three months.
The quick test for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), from Hinduja hospital, got an endorsement from the World Health Organisation (WHO) this week.
The diagnostic technique for multi-drug resistant TB promises to give an accurate diagnosis in 100 minutes time. The test currently takes up to three months. WHO is releasing recommendations and guidance for countries to incorporate this test in their programmes.
According to the article published on the WHO website, the new test represents a major milestone for global TB diagnosis and care. Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO’s Stop TB Department, says that the study is a new hope for the millions of people who are at the high risk of contracting drug-resistant TB.
The microbiology department of the PD Hinduja Hospital has co-authored a study on the technique for multi-drug resistant TB in the September issue of New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
“Termed the nucleic acid amplification test, it detected drug-resistant bacteria with an accuracy rate of 97.6%. This test could be used as an initial diagnosis test,” said Dr Camilla Rodrigues, co-author of the study.
As many as 1,730 patients were tested at four trial sites besides Hinduja Hospital—Lima in Peru, Baku in Azerbaijan, Cape Town and Durban, South Africa— between July 2008 and March 2009.
The study is co-authored by 20 experts in the ‘high risk’ TB regions of Africa and India, as per the WHO.
The use of the test is yet to start in India, as the WHO is yet to lay a road map on how and what way the programme should be started in India. “We are waiting for the WHO decision to roll out the programme in India,” said Dr Rodrigues.
Evidence to date indicates that implementation of this test could result in a three-fold increase in the diagnosis of patients with drug-resistant TB and a doubling in the number of HIV-associated TB cases diagnosed in areas with high rates of TB and HIV.
“HIV patients do not show reliable sputum samples. They are more susceptible to extra pulmonary TB or TB in other organs besides the lungs. In these cases, sputum tests are not relevant,” said Dr Rodrigues.
Many countries still rely principally on sputum smear microscopy, a diagnostic method which was developed over a century ago. But this new ‘while you wait’ test incorporates modern DNA technology that can be used outside of conventional laboratories.
It also benefits from being fully automated and therefore easy and safe to use.
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