Machine detects TB without symptoms

IN RESPONSE to a trend among Tuberculosis (TB) patients to only get tested once they present with symptoms – leading to delayed treatment and greater spread of infection – researchers led by UCT have trialled a mobile DNA-based test which aims to cut diagnosis and treatment time by 50%.

TB is one of the leading causes of death in this country, according to Statistics SA.

The latest study, published in the Lancet medical journal, took a DNA-based testing machine, called GeneXpert MTB/RIF, in a van with a generator to Langa and Mabvuku in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Between October 18, 2013 and March 31, 2015, 2 261 people were screened, of which 875 met the criteria for testing.

Roughly half of the patients were tested with the Xpert machine, with the rest being tested using the standard smear microscopy and culture samples.

The study revealed that 74 of 875 participants had tuberculosis, something which probably would have been diagnosed without the

TB IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN SOUTH AFRICA

proactive testing method.

Patients tested with the Xpert method also initiated treatment sooner than those tested the routine way.

The study, which was the first time that GeneXpert has been evaluated at the point of contact in a mobile van in sub-Saharan Africa, suggests that many more cases of TB can be detected with such a proactive approach.

“Our study shows the staggering burden of undiagnosed tuberculosis in the community… and reinforces the importance of intensified case finding as a pillar of tuberculosis control,” said the authors of the study.