WHO has developed guidelines on systematic screening for active tuberculosis (TB) based on a thorough review of available evidence. Early detection of TB is essential to further improve health outcomes for people with TB, and to reduce TB transmission more effectively. Systematic screening in high risk g...
The global priorities for tuberculosis (TB) care and control are to improve case-detection and to detect cases earlier, including cases of smear-negative disease which are often associated with coinfection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and young age, and to enhance the capacity to diagnose ...
In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an interim policy on collaborative TB/HIV activities
in response to demand from countries for immediate guidance on actions to decrease the dual burden of
tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The term interim was used because the...
An antibody detection-based diagnostic test in a user-friendly format could potentially replace
microscopy and extend tuberculosis diagnosis to lower levels of health services. Dozens of commercial
serological tests for tuberculosis are being marketed in many parts of the world, despite previous systemat...
Conventional light microscopy of Ziehl-Neelsen-stained smears prepared directly from sputum specimens is the most widely available test for diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in resource-limited settings. Ziehl-Neelsen microscopy is highly specific, but its sensitivity is variable (20–80%) and is significa...
Research over the past decade has resulted in the development of two commercial interferongamma release assays (IGRAs), based on the principle that the T-cells of individuals who have acquired TB infection respond to re-stimulation with Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens by secreting interferon...
Earlier and improved tuberculosis (TB) case detection - including smear-negative disease, often associated with HIV co-infection - as well as expanded capacity to diagnose multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are global priorities for TB control. Conventional laboratory methods are slow and cumberso...
