Systematic assessment of clinical and bacteriological markers for tuberculosis reveals discordance and inaccuracy of symptom-based diagnosis for treatment response monitoring.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Clinical symptoms are the benchmark of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response but are not clear how they relate to TB bacteriology, particularly the novel tuberculosis-molecular bacterial load assay (TB-MBLA).

Methods

Presumptive cases were bacteriologically confirmed for TB and assessed for symptoms and bacteriological resolution using smear microscopy (SM), culture, and TB-MBLA over 6-month treatment course. Kaplan-Meier and Kappa statistics were used to test the relationship between symptoms and bacteriological positivity.

Results

A cohort of 46 bacteriologically confirmed TB cases were analyzed for treatment response over a 6-month treatment course. Pre-treatment symptoms and bacteriological positivity concurred in over 70% of

SUBMITTER: Mtafya B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9677322 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature