TB in children can be accurately diagnosed with simple, rapid blood test, says study
blood test can help diagnose tuberculosis accurately in children, according to the findings of a study conducted in five countries, including India. About 2,40,000 children worldwide die of tuberculosis every year. The disease is among the top 10 causes of death in children under the age of 5, the researchers said.
One of the main reasons for this mortality is that tuberculosis is often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed in time, particularly in regions with limited resources, they said.
The new diagnostic tool, described in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, and tested as part of a large-scale study in five countries, offers significant progress in this area.
The most commonly used tuberculosis tests have been based on microbiological analysis of sputum or mucus taken from the lower airways.
These samples are difficult to obtain in children.
Also, child tuberculosis is often characterised by a low bacterial load and unspecific symptoms.
«Therefore, new tests are urgently needed,» said Laura Olbrich from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Germany.
The new tool is based on the activity of three specific genes, which can be measured in capillary blood. An innovative, semi-automatic system allows health care workers to identify a so-called transcriptomic signature for these genes which can help diagnose tuberculosis.
The test has the advantage that the blood sample can be conveniently taken from the fingertip and the results are available very quickly.
«We have the results in just over an hour. For most other tests, the samples have to be sent to other laboratories for analysis,» said Olbrich.
The researchers have tested the new tool as part of the comprehensive RaPaed-TB tuberculosis study, which is
