Dr. Madhukar Pai is part of an international team that has just published a new paper in The Lancet, titled “Feasibility, accuracy, and clinical effect of point-of-care Xpert MTB/RIF testing for tuberculosis in primary-care settings in Africa: a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial.”
The study, funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, National Research Foundation and the Claude Leon Foundation examined the effects of testing and treatment for tuberculosis administered by nurses in primary-care clinics. While the results of this approach saw more patients starting same-day treatment, more culture-positive patients starting therapy and a shorter time to treatment, the benefits did not translate into lower tuberculosis-related morbidity.
Read the full article here.
October 30, 2013