Trying to develop a new test for tuberculosis
- By:groshan fabiola
It is well known that tuberculosis is a problem caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is a bacterium that affects in the first phase, the lungs. This medical problem might be active or inactive. For both situations the skin test might help for revealing.
It is also known that a test called Mantoux is available and it is the most used test in all United States. This test is considered accurate. Even so the tuberculosis skin test called Mantoux can not always be precise. More than that this test is not capable to reveal weather the infection is active or not.
Other countries use BCG, bacillus Calmette Guerin, vaccine. BCG can cause a positive skin test if it has been recently administrated.
Talking about these tests, the specialists agree that no tuberculosis skin test is always going to detect the bacteria, so the specialists have devised a blood test for tuberculosis and they hope this will help patients in the developing world.
The specialists that developed this tuberculosis blood test believe that in 94 % of the cases this test will be accurate and this serum test will offer more guarantees then the common skin tests.
A recent study agrees that this tests works because it looks for biomarkers which are indicators of infection and could out perform alternatives.
Other opinions are also available. Tuberculosis experts agree that many research teams have tried to devise such a test but also sustain that they have failed in making it effective.
Some studies say that in UK more than 7000 new cases of tuberculosis are reported every year. The current method for diagnosing tuberculosis is said to be a close exam, under a microscope, of sputum from the lungs.
During many researches the scientists found a molecular signature for tuberculosis. After using a mass spectrometer and statistical methods to uncover complex patterns known as biomarkers within samples from people infected with tuberculosis the molecular signature was found.
This discovery was used by specialists to help finding a way for simpler diagnosing for tuberculosis infections.
The doctors’ conclusions are not yet told but following them step by step they say that the new method will help easing the methods for diagnosing tuberculosis. They agree that this new test is needed desperately in all the hospitals and they get excited when they think it is a possible thing.
The final step in developing the new ways of diagnosing tuberculosis is the usage of the identified biomarkers.About the author:
So, if you want to find more about tuberculosis history or even about tuberculosis symptoms please click this link http://www.tuberculosis-center.com