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Tuberculosis diagnostics and biomarkers: needs, challenges, recent advances, and opportunities
Ruth McNerney1, Markus Maeurer, Ibrahim Abubakar
1Department of Pathogen Molecular Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
|April 13, 2012
Summary
Accurate, rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) are lacking, hindering timely detection and treatment. Advances in TB diagnostics are needed to improve early case detection and control Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Medical Diagnostics
- Public Health
Background:
- Tuberculosis (TB) control is hampered by the absence of rapid, accurate point-of-care diagnostic tests.
- Current gold-standard TB diagnostic methods are laboratory-based, often requiring weeks for results and multiple investigations.
- Continued Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission is linked to delays in detecting infectious pulmonary TB cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current landscape of tuberculosis diagnostics, highlighting challenges and recent advances.
- To identify unmet needs and opportunities in the development of point-of-care TB diagnostic tests.
- To discuss factors influencing the successful implementation of TB diagnostic strategies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent advances in tuberculosis diagnostic test development.
- Analysis of challenges in biomarker discovery and point-of-care test implementation.
- Discussion of operational and technical issues impacting TB diagnostics.
Main Results:
- Several new diagnostic tests are available for active TB, latent infection screening, and drug-resistance identification.
- Progress in developing robust point-of-care TB tests remains limited.
- Novel biomarker discovery for TB diagnostics continues to be a significant challenge.
Conclusions:
- Effective global TB control requires high rates of early case detection and cure, dependent on accurate and accessible diagnostics.
- Political will and funding are crucial for delivering sustainable TB diagnostic and care strategies, especially for co-infected populations.
- Further research and development are needed to overcome technical and operational hurdles in TB diagnostics.
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