COMPARISON OF GeneXpert MTB/RIF ASSAY WITH CONVENTIONAL AFB SMEAR FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND.

COMPARISON OF GeneXpert MTB/RIF ASSAY WITH CONVENTIONAL AFB SMEAR FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND.
Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2017 Mar;48(2):313-21
Authors: Reechaipichitkul W, Suleesathira T, Chaimanee P
Abstract
Among infectious agents, Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains one of
the most significant causes of death worldwide. Rapid and accurate diagnosis
of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains a great challenge. GeneXpert MTB/RIF
assay is a novel integrated diagnostic system for rapid diagnosis of TB and particularly
of rifampicin-resistant strains. A study was conducted between January
2010 and December 2014 to compare the performance of the sputum GeneXpert
MTB/RIF assay with the conventional sputum AFB smear for diagnosis of active
pulmonary TB in Thailand, a country with a high burden of this disease. Of the
125 patients who had cough and/or prolonged fever together with abnormal chest
radiograph, 63 were diagnosed as having pulmonary TB by mycobacterium culture
assay, while the remaining subjects were considered of having TB-like conditions,
viz non-tuberculous mycobacterium infection (NTM), bacterial pneumonia or
bronchogenic carcinoma. Two-thirds of the patients had underlying diseases, eg,
diabetes mellitus (19 patients), autoimmune diseases (14), and HIV (6). Among
patients with positive diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection, 30 were AFB smear
positive and 53 by sputum GeneXpe...

Source: Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health - April 14, 2018 Category: Tropical Medicine Tags: Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health Source Type: research