Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
Health

New blood test to reliably detect TB in kids

Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Sep, 2014 07:39 AM
    About one million children per year develop tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, but unfortunately detecting TB in children has been a challenge as the symptoms are often non-specific and similar to those of common paediatric illnesses, including pneumonia and malnutrition.
     
    This is now set to change as researchers have developed a new blood test that provides a fast and accurate tool to diagnose tuberculosis in children.
     
    The newly developed test (TAM-TB assay) is the first reliable immuno-diagnostic assay to detect active tuberculosis in children, the researchers said.
     
    "This rapid and reliable test has the great potential to significantly improve the diagnosis of active tuberculosis in children," said Klaus Reither from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Switzerland, who coordinated the study.
     
    The new TAM-TB assay is a sputum-independent blood test.
     
    Using standard intracellular cytokine staining procedures and polychromatic flow cytometry, the test result is available within 24 hours after blood sampling.
     
    The new test was assessed in tuberculosis endemic regions in Tanzania at the Ifakara Health Institute and the NIMR Mbeya Medical Research Center.
     
    The study appeared in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Your face can reveal your heart condition

    Your face can reveal your heart condition
    The facial features of an individual can reflect whether or not a person is experiencing atrial fibrillation - a treatable but potentially dangerous heart condition....

    Your face can reveal your heart condition

    Junk blood tests may reveal resistant skin bacteria

    Junk blood tests may reveal resistant skin bacteria
    Instead of trashing contaminated positive blood samples in hospitals, these can be used for studying the presence of skin germs, a study suggests....

    Junk blood tests may reveal resistant skin bacteria

    Experimental Ebola drug cures infected monkeys

    Experimental Ebola drug cures infected monkeys
    In what appears to provide new hope for people infected with the deadly Ebola virus, scientists have successfully treated all the Ebola infected monkeys...

    Experimental Ebola drug cures infected monkeys

    Beware! Cigarette substitutes bad for bones

    Beware! Cigarette substitutes bad for bones
    Are you trying e-cigarettes or other nicotine replacement therapies to overcome addiction to cigarette smoking? Be warned, as they are not...

    Beware! Cigarette substitutes bad for bones

    Electric currents may boost memory

    Electric currents may boost memory
    Electric currents could be the key to treating memory impairments caused by conditions such as stroke, early-stage Alzheimer's disease...

    Electric currents may boost memory

    Girl-gang members at greater risk of unprotected sex

    Girl-gang members at greater risk of unprotected sex
    Young girls who join gangs to find their lost freedom are at a greater risk of unprotected sex with multiple partners and substance abuse, says a new study....

    Girl-gang members at greater risk of unprotected sex