Browsing by Author "Jubitana, Maureen"

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    Short report: using giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples: 2009 finding
    (The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygien, 2010) Poling, Alan; Weetjens, Bart J.; Cox, Christophe; Mgode, Georgies; Jubitana, Maureen; Kazwala, Rudovic; Mfinanga, Godfrey S.; Huis, Diana
    In 2009, giant African pouched rats trained to detect tuberculosis (TB) evaluated sputum samples from 10,523 patients whose sputum had previously been evaluated by smear microscopy. Microscopists found 13.3% of the patients to be TB-positive. Simulated second-line screening by the rats revealed 620 new TB-positive patients, increasing the case detection rate by 44%. These data suggest that the rats may be useful for TB detection in developing countries, although further research is needed.