It can identify tuberculosis in 2 hours. That’s a far cry from a current modality which takes at least 2 days to even screen for. The latest advance in the war against TB — thought to have been largely won in the latter quarter of the 20th century — can now be characterized by a rapid assay said to be more than 97 percent accurate and is even able to diagnose drug-resistant TB. Current testing involves the use of a microscope and is prone to investigator error and poorly obtained samples — something that can result in a missed diagnosis at alarmingly high rates. In endemic areas of the globe, that inconsistency is, of course, problematic.

As a result, TB is able to be identified in one single office visit. TB is a chronic bacterial infection spread through the air and usually infects the lungs, although other organs of the body can be involved. Most people who are infected with tuberculosis bacterium (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) don’t have symptoms, but some will develop the disease. Around 2 billion people — one-third of the world’s population — are thought to be infected with M. tb. The World Health Organization estimates that 8 million people develop active TB each year and nearly 2 million die. The test will be up for FDA approval and is already available in Europe. | LINK

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