CDRI offers tuberculosis detection kit

Vidushi Dubey / TNN / Jan 9, 2006, 01:59 IST

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World Health Organisation report cites delayed detection of the disease as the major reason behind its spread.

LUCKNOW: One-third of the global population, roughly two billion people, are infected with Tuberculosis Bacilli (TB). Eight million people are added to the list, while the disease claims there million lives every year.
Giving the statistics, the World Health Organisation (WHO) report cites delayed detection of the disease as the major reason behind its spread.
It's here that the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) has come up with an ace. It has developed a Tuberculosis Detection Kit (TDK) that has been licensed for production to Biotron Healthcare (India) Private Limited.
Director, CDRI, CM Gupta says "detection is the key to the treatment. Tuberculosis can be cured if diagnosed and detected before it goes out of control."

The current methods of diagnosis -- culture, microscope and radiological examination -- can detect the disease only in advanced stage. In initial stages, their report is not reliable.
"Besides, these procedures consume around six months. Thus giving time to the disease to aggravate," said scientist Ranjana Srivastava adding "the kit enables detection within six to eight hours."
"The kit enables us to detect the DNA of mycoro bacterium TB, the causative agent and amplifier of the disease. We see the gene sequencing of TB bacteria. If they match with the one found in the blood or sputum, then the patient is positive for TB," she further said.

"Tuberculosis can effect any organ such as lung, brain and kidney. It is caused by a highly infectious pathogenic bacterium -- Mycobacterium tuberculosis -- which spreads through aerosol," added Ranjana.
She said that coughing and sneezing by a patient suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis in a crowded area was enough to infect everyone around him. Incidentally, one to two out of every 10 infected people develop the disease.
"The company aims to contact clinical labs and physicians all over the country so that the advantage can be made available to rural folks as well," said Gupta. He added that the test would cost between Rs 500 and Rs 600.

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