Publications
Partners
- A new blood test finds potential TB in HIV positive patients
- The is a first-of-its-kind rapid test
- The tests were conducted in five districts in South Africa
A rapid blood test targeted at finding tuberculosis (TB) could shorten the time to tuberculosis treatment and reduce mortality in high-risk HIV positive people, a new study has found.
The research published in The Lancet Global Health was conducted in South Africa because of the country's high TB burden.
'RISK11 biomarker'
The study was conducted in five South African communities between 2017 and 2019. The researchers enrolled participants who self-identified as HIV-positive; however, confirmatory HIV testing was done at screening. They were aged between 18 and 59 years and did not have known TB or household exposure to a person with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis within the past three years.
They underwent medical screening procedures that included a medical history, physical examination, an HIV rapid antibody test, tuberculosis screening and urine collection.
The research team then ran a test of the diagnostic and prognostic performance of a blood-based RNA biomarker of TB risk in people living with HIV. The rapid diagnostic test was named RISK11 biomarker.
Participants attended up to seven study visits, comprising three telephone calls or field visits at months one, two, and nine, and four site visits at months three, six, 12, and 15.
The findings of the study
The researchers say that to their knowledge, this study is the first to prospectively use a real-time rapid host blood test to diagnose prevalent TB and predict the progression of the disease in people living with HIV.
The study results demonstrated that a blood test can find people living with HIV who are at high risk of TB. The blood mRNA virus indicator differentiated between people living with HIV who had active TB from those without TB. The test predicted which people would develop TB within 15 months.
“These promising results are similar to those seen in a trial of the RISK11 biomarker in HIV-uninfected persons. They highlight the importance of finding people with undiagnosed, subclinical TB,” says Prof Tom Scriba, laboratory director of SATVI, in a press statement.
*Sign up for our Daily Dose newsletter here.
READ|We’re on the hunt for novel ways to assess the risk of type 2 diabetes
READ|6 unhealthy eating behaviours on the rise during the Covid-19 pandemic
