Faster, Better Test for Tuberculosis

A new, faster test can reveal if a person has tuberculosis (TB). It also can tell if the disease is resistant to antibiotics. The new test takes less than two hours. The old one could take up to a week. The old test also misses cases of TB, so sick people are mistakenly told they are healthy. In a study of 1,730 people, the new test identified 98% of TB cases. It also identified 98% of the cases that were resistant to rifampin, a common drug used to treat TB. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection. It causes more than 1.8 million deaths each year. The new test is not the same as the skin test. The skin test is done to see if someone has ever been exposed to TB. The new test would be done in people who have TB symptoms. The study about the test appeared in the September 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it the same day.