Project Details
Description
The rising incidence of disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and
the emergence of multidrug-resistant M.
tuberculosis strains has become an international concern. These issues
have led the World Health Organization to declare tuberculosis a global
health emergency, a distinction never accorded another disease. Diagnostic
assays currently available are severely limited in their ability to
differentiate latent M.
tuberculosis infection from vaccination with M. bovis BCG. Identification
of acid-fast bacilli by sputum microscopy or examination of a chest-X-ray
for characteristic changes are the only methods for rapid diagnosis of
tuberculosis in clinical use. However, these methods are time consuming,
insensitive, and of little use in children. Recent advances in
mycobacterial genetics have permitted the development of many promising new
strategies for diagnosis and for drug-susceptibility testing of M.
tuberculosis. Several of these technologies, including luciferase reporter
phages, PCR-SSCP, and Qbeta replicase-amplified probes, should be
applicable to direct use in clinical assays. The experiments outlined in
this proposal will develop these novel methods for rapid diagnosis and
drug-susceptibility testing and will evaluate their usefulness in clinical
settings.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 9/30/94 → 7/31/98 |
ASJC
- Infectious Diseases
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
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