Faster Detection of TB May Be on the Horizon

FRIDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new test can rapidly identify active tuberculosis in people who've had negative sputum tests, say European researchers. In about half of all people with active TB, the disease-causing bacterium can't be identified using sputum tests. Because of this, new diagnostic tests are needed to help control the spread of TB, the researchers said. "In this study, we showed that a differentiation between active pulmonary tuberculosis and [latent TB infection] is possible by the ELISpot test," Dr. Christoph Lange, principal investigator of the Tuberculosis Network European Trials group study, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society. The study is published in the Oct. 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.(From: Healthfinder Weekend Health News 27/9)