Search Here

The simple blood test known as Khatri may be the revolutionary answer that the medical professionals have been looking for Tuberculosis testing. This test is also capable of identifying the patients with active infection and help in the treatment of the disease.

Tuberculosis is caused due to infection from Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. While it mostly infects the lungs, it can also infect other organs including the brain, kidney and spine. TB spreads when diseased people cough, speak, sneeze or sing near the ones that are not infected. However, the bacteria do not spread by sharing food, kissed, drinks or even toothbrushes, Tech Times reported

If not treated in time, TB can be very fatal and was once the most commonly known cause of death amongst American people. The world is plagued by this disease as hundreds and millions in the world are infected by these bacteria that claims as many as 1.5 million lives annually.

"One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB. Even if only 10 percent of them get active TB, that's still 3 percent of the world's population - 240 million people," said Purvesh Khatri of the Stanford University School of Medicine, reveals Eureka Alert

Earlier TB tests involved sputum analysis, respiratory secretions of people that are potentially infected. The problem with this method is that as the people recover, there is less mucus to correctly diagnose the presence of bacteria. However, the new methods of diagnosis are 86% effective amongst children and does not create a false positive result amongst people who are immunized against the disease or the ones whose infection is inactive. There is a 99% accuracy of negative results amongst patients, said the researchers. The Khatri test uses gene expression signature for diagnosis which can only be detected in those people who have active TB infections, as reported by Albany Daily Star