Podcast: Xpert MTB/RIF and Xpert Ultra for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In June 2019, one of these, on a test used to detect tuberculosis, was updated. The lead author, David Horne from the University of Washington in Seattle in the USA, sets the scene and tells us what the review found.Tuberculosis, or TB, causes more deaths than any other infectious disease: 1.6 million people died from it in 2017. Most of these deaths could have been averted with earlier detection. The early diagnosis of TB is also important to prevent disease progression and long-term consequences, alleviate symptoms, and to protect public health by interrupting its transmission.An important aspect of the global TB epidemic is the threat from drug-resistant TB. Unlike most other infectious diseases, TB treatment requires multiple drugs given for at least 6 months to prevent the emergence of drug-resistance and cure TB. But, some patients ’ TB is resistant to the most potent drugs in a standard treatment regimen, rifampicin and isoniazid. Treatment of this multi-drug resistant or MDR-TB takes longer and requires drugs that are much more expensive and toxic than standard therapy. Every year, over half a million people develop MDR-TB or rifampicin-resistant TB; but, in 2017, only one in four of these started appropriate treatment and just over one-half of those were cured.Culturing TB in the laboratory is the best test for diagnosing TB and ...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news