New Blood Test Can Accurately Diagnose Active Tuberculosis

The World Health Organization has named tuberculosis as the number 1 most deadly infectious disease in the world. Over 95 percent of deaths in countries with low and middle income are caused by this disease and is also known as one of the top 5 causes of deaths of women ages 15 to 44.

Tuberculosis is caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and has already taken the lives of so many men and women around the world. The most commonly affected organs are the lungs, but there is also a chance that the bacteria can hit other organs like the brain or kidneys, Tech Times reported. 

The Khatri blood test was developed by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine to properly test and diagnose tuberculosis. The old fashion way of diagnosing TB has a hard time distinguishing those with active tuberculosis from those who have already been vaccinated against the disease, according to Medical Daily.

There have been several cases where doctors were not able to detect the infectious disease in patients with HIV. Although a sputum (a mixture of saliva and mucus) sample collection is a good way to diagnose patients with tuberculosis, it is not easy to ask patients to cough samples up of containers since they can't produce sputum as soon as you ask them to.

The test which was developed in the Khatri lab doesn't require patients to cough up sputum because it only needs a normal blood sample. According to the study, the Khatri test can determine all TB strains even if it is resistant to antibiotics. It doesn't give a positive response for those who have an inactive TB case or have received a vaccine for the disease.

"If the test comes up negative, it's right 99 percent of the time. That is, of 100 patients who test negative with the Khatri test, 99 do not have active [tuberculosis]," researchers said.

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