The team headed by Doctor Manuel Casal, head of Microbiology at Reina Sofia Hospital in Cordoba has validated in patients a technique, originally produced by a German company, capable of diagnosing tuberculosis in only one day and determining whether or not it is resistant to two of the drugs used to treat this disease. This Cordoba laboratory is considered by the Andalusian Government as a benchmark in the study of tuberculosis.
"Fast diagnosis is an important step towards eliminating this disease", affirms the head of the Microbiology Department at Reina Sofia Hospital, whose work group has validated a molecular biology genetics technique capable of detecting within a day, or at the most two, if a patient his suffering from tuberculosis and the mutations resistant to rifampicine and isoniazid, two of the drugs used in the treatment of this disease. "The longer a person suffers the disease without knowing it, the more people can be infected."
According to the Cordoba doctor, this technique does not search for live bacteria, but rather the most important component of these, the nucleic acid, within which a study is made of certain genes "that indicate a resistance mutation. In this way, directly and without having to resort to cultures, it is possible to test a patient suspected of suffering this disease. The test consists in the confrontation of a series of reagents with others, which tells us whether or not the pathology is present." Thanks to this system, "it is possible to obtain the test results the same day, while previous technique required at least 15 days."
At the moment this technique, validated by the doctors in Cordoba, is already being used in the large specialised laboratories of major hospitals and research centres with wide experience in this field.
From 15 days to one month for a diagnosis