BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended a new, modern and low-cost TB and MDR-TB diagnostic kit that has the potential to change the tuberculosis treatment scenario in the country.

The ICMR's validation comes after a World Health Organisation TB Programme has included an Indian Molecular assay TrueNat as initial test for the disease in view of its high diagnostic accuracy.

The TrueNat TB test is a new molecular test that diagnoses TB as well as testing for resistance to the drug Rifampicin in about 90 minutes. The biggest advantage of the test is that it can be done at a primary healthcare centre without electricity, as the portable machine is run by a battery.

“After a stringent review and a series of validation and subsequent feasibility studies and continuous follow-up, the ‘TrueNat M.TB & Rif’ assay was found to be at par with the internationally recognised molecular assay Gene Xpert in terms of sensitivity and specificity and detection of Rifampicin resistance,” said Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR.  

He pointed out, “This was taken up by National TB Elimination Programme after recommendations from ICMR.”

Based on the interim analysis of the data, WHO included TrueNat as a test to diagnose TB and to sequentially detect Rifampicin resistance in view of its high diagnostic accuracy.