Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska
In a remote region of western Alaska where tuberculosis (TB) incidence remains relatively high, a rapid molecular detection assay (Xpert MTB/RIF) was introduced four years ago with goal of improving the ability to diagnose active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Our aggressive testing programme was inte...
Published in: | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
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2020
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:095129b22879495f8bc135a771062509 2023-05-15T15:07:07+02:00 Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska Ronald J. Bowerman 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/article/095129b22879495f8bc135a771062509 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/article/095129b22879495f8bc135a771062509 International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 79, Iss 1 (2020) alaska circumpolar health rapid molecular testing tuberculosis xpert mtb/rif Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 2022-12-31T12:41:55Z In a remote region of western Alaska where tuberculosis (TB) incidence remains relatively high, a rapid molecular detection assay (Xpert MTB/RIF) was introduced four years ago with goal of improving the ability to diagnose active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Our aggressive testing programme was intended for all patients acutely evaluated for pulmonary TB at our regional hospital and multiple clinics over a large area. All 223 consecutive patients evaluated for active pulmonary TB were tested with Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) per our protocol of which 192 (86.1%) had at least one additional (paired) sputum sample collected for standard acid-fast bacilli (smear) microscopy and culture. Fourteen patients eventually became culture-positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), all but one having initially tested positive (MTB detected) by Xpert (sensitivity 92.9%). All remaining culture-negative individuals had tested negative (not detected) by Xpert (specificity 100%). By contrast, smear microscopy sensitivity and specificity was 64.3% and 98.9% respectively. This represents the addition of four active TB patients detected by Xpert over smear. In remote regions, the ability of Xpert to quickly and reliably detect TB while determine which patients are not contagious represents a huge healthcare savings as in most cases these patients will not require hospitalized isolation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Rif ENVELOPE(-16.172,-16.172,66.526,66.526) International Journal of Circumpolar Health 79 1 1827786 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
alaska circumpolar health rapid molecular testing tuberculosis xpert mtb/rif Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
alaska circumpolar health rapid molecular testing tuberculosis xpert mtb/rif Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Ronald J. Bowerman Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
topic_facet |
alaska circumpolar health rapid molecular testing tuberculosis xpert mtb/rif Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
In a remote region of western Alaska where tuberculosis (TB) incidence remains relatively high, a rapid molecular detection assay (Xpert MTB/RIF) was introduced four years ago with goal of improving the ability to diagnose active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Our aggressive testing programme was intended for all patients acutely evaluated for pulmonary TB at our regional hospital and multiple clinics over a large area. All 223 consecutive patients evaluated for active pulmonary TB were tested with Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) per our protocol of which 192 (86.1%) had at least one additional (paired) sputum sample collected for standard acid-fast bacilli (smear) microscopy and culture. Fourteen patients eventually became culture-positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), all but one having initially tested positive (MTB detected) by Xpert (sensitivity 92.9%). All remaining culture-negative individuals had tested negative (not detected) by Xpert (specificity 100%). By contrast, smear microscopy sensitivity and specificity was 64.3% and 98.9% respectively. This represents the addition of four active TB patients detected by Xpert over smear. In remote regions, the ability of Xpert to quickly and reliably detect TB while determine which patients are not contagious represents a huge healthcare savings as in most cases these patients will not require hospitalized isolation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ronald J. Bowerman |
author_facet |
Ronald J. Bowerman |
author_sort |
Ronald J. Bowerman |
title |
Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
title_short |
Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
title_full |
Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote Alaska |
title_sort |
rapid detection of tuberculosis in remote alaska |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/article/095129b22879495f8bc135a771062509 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.172,-16.172,66.526,66.526) |
geographic |
Arctic Rif |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Rif |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Alaska |
op_source |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 79, Iss 1 (2020) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 https://doaj.org/article/095129b22879495f8bc135a771062509 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1827786 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
79 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1827786 |
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1766338686682660864 |