Modern laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis

One-third of the global population is believed to be infected with bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, the causative agent of tuberculosis. More than 8 million new cases of tuberculosis occur annually leading to 2 million deaths. Mortality is particularly high in those coinfected wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet infectious diseases 2003-03, Vol.3 (3), p.141-147
Main Authors: Drobniewski, FA, Caws, M, Gibson, A, Young, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Antitubercular Agents - therapeutic use
Automation
Bacteria
Contact tracing
Cross-infection
Diagnosis
Diagnostic systems
Disease resistance
Drug resistance
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
Economic models
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Identification
Infectious diseases
Isoniazid
Laboratories
Laboratories - standards
Medical diagnosis
Multidrug resistance
Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis - classification
Mycobacterium tuberculosis - isolation & purification
Mycobacterium tuberculosis - physiology
Public health
Rifampin
Strains (organisms)
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis - diagnosis
Tuberculosis - drug therapy
United Kingdom
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Summary:One-third of the global population is believed to be infected with bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, the causative agent of tuberculosis. More than 8 million new cases of tuberculosis occur annually leading to 2 million deaths. Mortality is particularly high in those coinfected with HIV and where the bacteria are multiple-drug-resistant strains—ie, strains resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin. Early diagnosis of tuberculosis and drug resistance improves survival and by identifying infectious cases promotes contact tracing, implementation of institutional cross-infection procedures, and other public-health actions. This review addresses significant advances made in the diagnosis of infection, clinical disease, and drug resistance over the past decade. It proposes operational criteria for a modern diagnostic service in the UK (as a model of a low-incidence country) and explores some of the economic issues surrounding the use of these techniques.
ISSN:1473-3099
1474-4457
DOI:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00544-9