Serological antibody tests to detect active TB are inaccurate and not cost-effective, studies suggest
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 - 18:30
in Health & Medicine
Despite being widely available for sale in low-and-middle income countries, commercial serological tests used to detect active tuberculosis (by identifying antibodies to the tuberculosis-causing bacterium in a blood sample) do not accurately diagnose TB and, furthermore, often test positive when the patient does not have TB (false positive) and test negative when the patient actually has TB (false negative). In addition, as shown in India, the use of such tests is not cost effective as compared to other tests available for TB.