CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -In a matter of pride for Indian scientists, the WHO Global TB Programme has included an indigenously developed TrueNat tuberculosis technology, developed by them, to detect TB and multi-drug resistant TB in view of its high diagnostic accuracy.

Detailed explanation-2: -This will have a great impact on reducing life-threatening delays in the diagnosis and treatment of TB.” The independent evaluation studies conducted by FIND were supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Detailed explanation-3: -There are a number of TB tests currently available for diagnosing TB. Three of these are now recommended in the new National TB Plan to be used for adults in India who might have pulmonary TB. The three tests are sputum smear microscopy, chest X -ray, and the CB-NAAT test.

Detailed explanation-4: -Both Truenat MTB and Truenat MTB Plus detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria for TB diagnosis, while Truenat MTB-RIF Dx identifies resistance to rifampicin, the most commonly used first-line treatment. All three tests are run on the portable, battery-operated Truenat device and provide results in less than an hour.

Detailed explanation-5: -The sensitivity of Truenat MTB was 88.0% [95% CI 70.1, 95.8], while 91.7 [95% CI 74.2, 97.7] for Truenat MTB Plus at the microscopy centers. The specificity of Truenat MTB was 97.2% [95% CI 93.1, 98.9], while for Truenat MTB Plus was 97.2% [95% CI 93.0, 99.0].