Recent Advances in Diagnosis of Tuberculosis: A Review

Globally tuberculosis remains a challenge from the point of diagnosis, detection of drug resistance, and treatment. Treatment can only be initiated, when infection is detected and it’s based on the results of AST, recently there has been a marked increase in the development and testing of novel assays designed to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although most important advances that would develop tuberculosis (TB) analysis have not been realized, we are beginning to see the innovations that have been prompted by the recognition of the economic potential of the market for new diagnostic tests for TB and considerably increased public and private funding and awareness. In this present review, we focused on the newer tests that are accessible for the analysis of suppressed and active tuberculosis and rapid detection of drug resistance, nucleic acid amplification for identification of M. tuberculosis complex, and rapid tests for detecting drug resistance. PCR-based technologies and hybridization assays used for the recognition of the mycobacteria. Though these newer techniques are useful for a rapid result, emphasizing that culture-based diagnosis is still the ‘gold standard’ for the diagnosis and follows up on tuberculosis. Key-wordsDrug Sensitivity Testing (DST), M. tuberculosis, Molecular diagnosis, Tuberculosis infection, PCR, INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading infectious diseases in the world and is responsible for more than 2 million deaths and 8 million new cases annually [1] and in India, accounts for one-fifth of this global burden of TB . The disease is caused by a bacterium called M. tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but can infect any part of the body such as the kidney, intestine, pleura, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, this infectious disease can be fatal . TB and HIV have been closely linked since the emergence of AIDS and both diseases is a major public health challenge. It is estimated that 60-70% of HIV positive persons will develop tuberculosis in their lifetime . Smear microscopy has suboptimal sensitivity and detects only about 60-70% of the TB cases. The implementation of culture for the diagnosis can improve the TB detection rate of a laboratory by about 30-40%. These two laboratory methods, smear microscopy and culture are still the “gold standards” for the diagnosis of TB and culture is considered as the most sensitive method. Access this article online Quick Response Code Website: