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Delhi-born Oxford scientist brings hope for TB control: The Times of India
London, Apr 05: In a potentially revolutionary medical advance, the world`s very first diagnostic blood test for Tuberculosis (TB) has been unveiled here by an Oxford scientist originally from Delhi.
London, Apr 05: In a potentially revolutionary medical advance, the world’s very first diagnostic blood test for Tuberculosis (TB) has been unveiled here by an Oxford scientist originally from Delhi.
The Elispot test developed by Dr Ajit Lalvani has raised hopes that mankind’s ancient scourge and biggest killer disease may eventually be eradicated.
The test crucially identifies people with "early dormant TB before they become infectious to other people", Lalvani told TNN.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is understood to be interested in adopting it because of the potential giant leap forward in TB control.
WHO estimates say TB infection is currently spreading at the rate of one person per second.
Lalvani, a researcher with the charitable Wellcome Trust, said: "In countries such as the USA, it could eradicate TB in a matter of decades, in countries like India, it would obviously take longer".
TB claims more lives than AIDS and malaria taken together. Roughly 900 million people worldwide are estimated to be infected.
People with dormant TB display none of the "wasting away" symptoms of the so-called poet’s disease. They have so far been difficult to identify by the antiquated, crude, highly-fallible "skin prick" test developed by Robert Koch 100 years ago.
The innovation is described as the world’s first blood test to diagnose a disease by looking for cells in the blood produced by the immune system. These are called T-cells.
Normally, blood tests look for antibodies to make a diagnosis.
The test, hailed in the West after a report in the prestigious Lancet medical journal, published on Friday, is currently under trial in Mumbai, said Lalvani.
He said the test could help India, with its "huge burden of TB" by diagnosing the disease in HIV-infected people and young children who are traditionally hard to spot as TB sufferers.
The new test is said to be simple and quick compared to the week-long wait prescribed by the current "skin prick" method. Lalvani stressed that it was crucially not confused by the BCG vaccination either, leading to "eventual savings" in developing countries’ TB control budgets.
Lalvani, a 39-year-old, Delhi-born, London-bred and Oxford-educated boy from India, said he was happy to be able to show there may be light at the end of the tunnel for tuberculosis-ravaged areas of the world. Medical pundits said the test may finally call time on a disease so old and so virulent that tissue samples from 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummies showed signs of infection.
If all goes well, said a pleased Lalvani, the new blood test may become routinely available around the world in a few years time.
The test is on trial in eight other TB-wracked spots of the globe.
The Wellcome Trust said it would replace the world’s oldest diagnostic test, developed by the man who originally discovered tubercular bacteria.
Bureau Report
The test crucially identifies people with "early dormant TB before they become infectious to other people", Lalvani told TNN.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is understood to be interested in adopting it because of the potential giant leap forward in TB control.
WHO estimates say TB infection is currently spreading at the rate of one person per second.
Lalvani, a researcher with the charitable Wellcome Trust, said: "In countries such as the USA, it could eradicate TB in a matter of decades, in countries like India, it would obviously take longer".
TB claims more lives than AIDS and malaria taken together. Roughly 900 million people worldwide are estimated to be infected.
People with dormant TB display none of the "wasting away" symptoms of the so-called poet’s disease. They have so far been difficult to identify by the antiquated, crude, highly-fallible "skin prick" test developed by Robert Koch 100 years ago.
The innovation is described as the world’s first blood test to diagnose a disease by looking for cells in the blood produced by the immune system. These are called T-cells.
Normally, blood tests look for antibodies to make a diagnosis.
The test, hailed in the West after a report in the prestigious Lancet medical journal, published on Friday, is currently under trial in Mumbai, said Lalvani.
He said the test could help India, with its "huge burden of TB" by diagnosing the disease in HIV-infected people and young children who are traditionally hard to spot as TB sufferers.
The new test is said to be simple and quick compared to the week-long wait prescribed by the current "skin prick" method. Lalvani stressed that it was crucially not confused by the BCG vaccination either, leading to "eventual savings" in developing countries’ TB control budgets.
Lalvani, a 39-year-old, Delhi-born, London-bred and Oxford-educated boy from India, said he was happy to be able to show there may be light at the end of the tunnel for tuberculosis-ravaged areas of the world. Medical pundits said the test may finally call time on a disease so old and so virulent that tissue samples from 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummies showed signs of infection.
If all goes well, said a pleased Lalvani, the new blood test may become routinely available around the world in a few years time.
The test is on trial in eight other TB-wracked spots of the globe.
The Wellcome Trust said it would replace the world’s oldest diagnostic test, developed by the man who originally discovered tubercular bacteria.
Bureau Report