First New Diagnostic Test for TB in Hundreds of Years

In the medical world, before treatment comes diagnosis. It is the first, and most vital step towards getting care, and for infectious diseases, stopping the spread of the disease. This is especially the case for tuberculosis (TB), which is highly contagious. 

This is why, according to NPR, a new diagnostic test, developed by the Chinese company Pluslife, which is easier to use, cheaper, and more accurate, could be a game change in the fight to stop TB.

For 100 years
It’s been over a century since Dr. Robert Koch discovered that tuberculosis, one of the most deadly diseases in the world, was caused by a rod-shaped bacterium, thus changing the face of medicine forever.

 The test for the disease has not changed much since then, and is reliant on a phlegm sample from the patient. This can be highly irritating for both the patients, who sometimes have trouble producing phlegm, and the lab workers who have to deal with a material that is viscous and not easy to work with.

In addition, the test is not especially accurate. Sometimes people without tuberculosis are diagnosed with the disease, while, on the other hand, it often misses the presence of the disease entirely. 

A Swab and DNA
Now, after more than one hundred years, a new test has entered the market. The test, called MiniDockMTB, works using phlegm, but also material from a simple tongue swab if the patient is unable to produce phlegm. Once the sample is collected, it is heated and spun down, and then machine tested for tuberculosis DNA. It is fast, portable, and certainly more accurate than previous TB tests. 

In fact, in a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers showed that the MiniDockMTB was easy to use and met the World Health Organization’s target for accuracy when using either phlegm or material from a tongue swab. 

The accuracy is important because it helps with early detection, and early detection is very important to help to stop the spread of the disease and makes it less likely that the patient will develop an anti-biotic-resistant strain, according to The Optimist Daily. 

Alfred Andama, a microbiologist at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in Uganda, told The Optimist Daily, “Detecting patients early, starting them on treatment early and following up to make sure they adhere to treatments makes a lot of improvement in their lives.” 

TB has been a scourge upon humanity for centuries. It is truly one of the deadliest and most contagious diseases in the world. It is also remarkably resilient. Despite the miraculous advent of antibiotics, TB still thrives. This is, in part, due to a lack of accessible and accurate testing. 

Now, all that is changing. With the advent of this new test, the hope is that one day, TB will be a thing of the past, like polio and smallpox.