AveloMask, a novel breath aerosol collection kit for airborne <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>: a proof-of-principle assessment.

ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world's deadliest infectious disease, with many active cases missed due to challenges in sputum collection. Exhaled breath aerosols (XBA), a major route of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) transmission, offer a promising non-invasive alternative. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy and feasibility of the AveloMask-a novel point-of-care breath aerosol collection kit-for detecting active pulmonary TB using quantitative PCR (qPCR). In a pilot diagnostic accuracy study, 61 symptomatic, adult outpatients in Cape Town, South Africa, wore the mask for 45 min, coughing deeply at the start and end. XBAs were collected on integrated fiber filters transferred into stabilizing buffer via a simple push step and biobanked. XBA's were batch-analyzed by qPCR t

SUBMITTER: Risch P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12421833 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature