AIM: There is currently no single diagnostic method which can detect all tuberculosis (TB) cases. Therefore diagnosis can take several days and weeks and involve expensive, invasive and complex procedures.
METHODS: 100 clinically diagnosed tuberculosis patients attending Jericho Chest Clinic, Ibadan, Nigeria (Test) and 100 tuberculosis free healthy individuals (Control) were recruited for the study after ethical clearance and patientsÂ’ consent were obtained. Rapid serological test based on immobilized antigens on immune-chromatographic strips obtainable from (AMRAD, Australia) were performed using serum samples of clotted blood obtained from test and controlled subjects. Controls were selected using results of clinical examination and chest X ray while the tuberculosis patients were confirmed positive using clinical examination, chest X-ray, smear microscopy and microbial culture.
RESULTS: The number of true positives were 78 (78.0%) and false positives were 8 (8.0%) while the number of true negatives were 92 (92.0%) and false negatives were 22 (22.0%). Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive and positive predictive values of this serological method were 78.0%, 92.0%, 80.7% and 90.7% respectively.
CONCLUSION: These results underscore the need to include serological method as a routine in the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis at the point of care particularly in poor resource settings and developing economies. Furthermore it is plausible to suggest that multiple antigen based immune-chromatographic kits showed better promise for rapid serological diagnosis.
Key words: Tuberculosis, Diagnosis, Immunochromatography, Serology, Validity Article Language: Turkish English
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