A quick blood test that can detect tuberculosis infection before symptoms
appear has been developed. Conventional tests cannot easily distinguish between
people with TB and those who have had the BCG vaccine. But Ajit Lalvani at the
University of Oxford says his test looks for a specific immune cell reaction to
a protein in the TB bacterium. When used on 50 people with differing exposures
to tuberculosis patients, the new test detected infection earlier and wasn’t
fooled by vaccinations (The Lancet vol 357, p 2017).
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