| Popis: |
Global Tuberculosis control efforts have been severely hampered due to lack of diagnostic tests that are accurate, simple to use and can be applied at the point of clinical care. This has been further compounded by the wide spread inability to test for drug resistance. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a rapid molecular assay that can be used close to the point of care by operators with minimal technical expertise. In this study, 100 Sputum samples were obtained from the Tuberculosis (TB) suspected patients in the MGM Hospital and sent to the Central Research Laboratory (CRL), Department of Microbiology, MGM Medical College, Navi Mumbai, India from January 2016 to June 2016. The patients were examined clinically as per standard criteria and the sputum samples were then processed by three methods mainly includes Smear microscopy for Acid fast bacilli staining (AFB), Tuberculosis bacterial culture by Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT), and Xpert MTB/RIF test platform (Gene Xpert, Cepheid), which integrates sample processing and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in a disposable plastic cartridge containing all reagents required for bacterial lysis, nucleic acid extraction, amplification, and amplicon detection. The Xpert MTB/RIF cartridge was then inserted into the Gene Xpert device, which provides results within 2 h. The sensitivity of Acid Fast Bacilli Smear Microscopy (AFB), Gene Xpert were found 55, 96% respectively and specificities were 96.67 and 96.67% respectively considering culture (MGIT) as a Gold standard. Gene Xpert assay was able to detect more Tuberculosis cases than Acid Fast Bacilli Smear microscopy alone. This technique though expensive is much quicker as compared to the conventional methods and is more sensitive and specific. This method could offer a new approach for accurate tuberculosis diagnosis, especially in remote regions of the world where culture-based diagnostic systems are not available and needs a specific environment for Sample processing and Growth of the Tuberculosis Bacteria. |
