Many people with tuberculosis cannot cough up the bacteria needed for standard tests. This new study looked at a different way to find the infection using swabs from the mouth and throat. The research involved 1,380 patients aged 12 or older who were seen at outpatient centers across India, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia. Some of these patients also had HIV.
The new test, called MiniDock MTB, found the disease in 85.7% of patients who had a cough sample. It found the disease in 79.6% of patients who only had a tongue swab. Both results were higher than the accuracy of standard smear microscopy. The test was also very accurate at correctly identifying people who did not have the disease, with accuracy over 97.5%.
The test was easy for staff to use and received a high usability score. No safety problems were reported during the testing. This new tool meets the targets set by the World Health Organization for finding tuberculosis quickly and accurately in many different places.