Assess the sensitivity and added value of tongue swabs for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in Guinee and the Comoros

Fast and sensitive diagnostic techniques are required for adequate treatment and management of tuberculosis. TB diagnosis has been based on clinical presentation, smear microscopy, culture, and chest x-ray investigation, and increasingly depends on Xpert MTB/RIF. The variation in quality and difficulty of providing a suitable sputum sample by young children and other patients is a limitation to TB diagnosis. In this project, we intend to determine the performance of the tongue swab as an alternative sample type for the diagnosis of TB via the IS6110 quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay and compare it against the results of Xpert performed on sputum from the same patients. TSs collected from TB patients from the Union of the Comoros and Guinea will be used in this study. After DNA extraction using the modified Maxwell extraction method, qPCR for the multi-copy IS6110 target will be performed to quantify the amount of MTB present in the sample. The sensitivity and added value of tongue swab relative to Xpert MTB/RIF on sputum will be calculated.

Project type:PhD project