The United States has developed a rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis

U.S. researchers announced on the 1st that they have developed a rapid diagnostic method that can diagnose a person with high accuracy in two hours if they are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and whether the in vivo pathogens are tolerant to commonly used antituberculosis drugs.

The new diagnostic method was developed by Cepheid Corporation of California, USA. The researchers conducted tests on 1,730 suspected cases of tuberculosis in Peru, Azerbaijan, South Africa and India and showed that this method can identify 98% of confirmed cases, and 98% of patients who are resistant to rifampicin, a first-line drug for tuberculosis, are near. Three-quarters of tuberculosis cases that were falsely declared negative in microscopic tests. At the same time, it can also diagnose whether it is accompanied by HIV infection.

Traditional detection methods cannot detect both types of infection at the same time, and they cannot detect the resistance of pathogens. It takes several weeks.

The results of this study were published on the 1st in the United States "New England Journal of Medicine."

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded the study, said on the 1st that the World Health Organization will contact researchers in the next few days to evaluate the research results.

Currently, Cepheid is applying for the listing of this diagnostic method in the United States. John Bishop, CEO of the company, stated that the diagnostic cost of this diagnostic method is approximately US$ 63. The company is willing to provide this diagnostic method at a price half price lower than the cost price in a relatively poor country.

Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, of which tuberculosis is the most common. According to the World Health Organization, since 2004, the incidence and death rate of tuberculosis have gradually declined. However, one third of the world's TB patients are currently not diagnosed and treated promptly and accurately. Nearly 2 million people are diagnosed every year. So died. In addition, in some developing countries and regions, the proportion of dual infections of tuberculosis and AIDS is very high.