Alternative methods of smear collection are effective at diagnosing TB
Two studies by a team of researchers led by Luis E. Cuevas and Mohammed Yassin from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and jointly coordinated with Andrew Ramsay at WHO-TDR Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases are published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The studies have important implications for the ways in which diagnosis for the endemic infectious disease, tuberculosis (TB), can be done in poor countries. One study suggests that less sputum tests collected the same day of consultation are needed and the other suggests that a faster laboratory test can be used while maintaining the same level of accuracy for diagnosis. Both studies show that alternative, less labour-intensive tests that are more convenient for patients could be effectively used in poorer countries.