Xpert MTB/RIF: The newly endorsed TB diagnostic

Publication date: April–June 2014 Source:Pediatric Infectious Disease, Volume 6, Issue 2 Author(s): Chaitali Nikam , Camilla Rodrigues Early diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis is desirable to treat patient's regimens and to prevent the transmission of resistant strains. Real-time PCR assays have been developed to detect drug resistance rapidly, but none of them have been widely applied due to their complexity, high cost, or requirement for advanced instruments. GeneXpert is now approved by WHO for use in low income settings and can be used to screen pulmonary as well as extra pulmonary specimens for resistance to Rifampicin with as low as 2 h of Turnaround Time (TAT). Tuberculosis (TB) in children is rarely confirmed due to the lack of effective diagnostic tools; approximately 10–15% of pediatric TB is smear-positive due to paucibacillary samples and the difficulty of obtaining high-quality specimens from children. TB is one of the top ten killers of children worldwide. Every day, up to 200 children lose their lives to TB and every year, up to 74,000 needlessly die. It is estimated that over half a million cases of TB occur in children every year, although researchers believe this figure is much higher as childhood TB is under reported. The true burden of TB in children is unknown due to inadequate surveillance and reporting of childhood TB cases.
Source: Pediatric Infectious Disease - Category: Pediatrics Source Type: research