Inexpensive TB Test Holds Promise for Low-income Countries

A low-cost, easy-to-replicate test for tuberculosis might help developing nations better identify and treat the infectious and sometimes deadly disease, new research suggests. A study of the $2 test in rural Malawi in southeastern Africa found that it was reliable and could be easily employed in areas with a high incidence of tuberculosis, said study author Jesse Kwiek, an associate professor of microbiology at The Ohio State University.
The TB CX-test is designed to not only detect tuberculosis but to determine whether the infecting strain is resistant to any of a handful of antibiotics used to treat it. In this study of 96 people at high risk of TB, however, drug-resistant forms of the disease were not detected, and further studies are underway to assess the role the inexpensive test could play in identifying the best route of treatment, Kwiek said.