Infected or not? The biggest challenge for TB

Rawalpindi : Diagnosis is one of the biggest gaps in the tuberculosis (TB) cascade of care. There remains a certain degree of uncertainty among physicians when it comes to laboratory tests for TB infection. The choice of sample, where to take it from, when to take it, how much is adequate and how to store it, are often areas of concern.

With its mission to increase access to quality healthcare and training, The Aga Khan University Hospital organised a Continuing Medical Education session for doctors in Rawalpindi on this subject the other day in collaboration with Pakistan Academy of Family Physicians PAFP-Pioneers.

While speaking to participants at the seminar, Pathologist at Aga Khan University Hospital Dr Natasha Anwar said Pakistan sees about 510,000 new TB cases emerging each year and approximately 15,000 people developing drug resistant TB every year. According to the World Health Organisation, it is also estimated to have the fourth highest prevalence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) globally, she said.

She added the key reasons for emergence of drug resistance form of TB include delays in diagnosis, unsupervised, inappropriate and inadequate drug regimens, poor follow-up and lack of a social support programme for high-risk populations.

She said that different types of tests available for TB require different samples and answer different questions. Therefore, results must be interpreted together with the clinical presentation of the disease.

Whether we choose a microbiological or immunological approach for diagnosis of TB, both have their limitations and are currently being improved to provide clear and concise results, she said.

She added researchers are also searching for novel biomarkers, from the diverse clinical spectrum of the disease that may enable more reliable, rapid and robust diagnosis of TB infection.

Assistant Manager at Aga Khan University Hospital for Northern Pakistan Region Bilal Azfar Abbasi while delivering vote of thanks, informed the participants that through its network of hospitals, primacy care medical centres, only College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited clinical laboratories of Pakistan and its pharmacies, The Aga Khan University Hospital is present in over 115 cities across Pakistan, delivering world class quality healthcare to all.

President PAFP Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Vice President Dr Shahzad Tahir and Secretary General Dr Sarfaraz Bashir addressed the seminar and praised the efforts of AKUH for apprising doctors about latest trends in diagnostics.