A Tuberculosis Molecular Bacterial Load Assay (TB-MBLA)Wilber Sabiiti 1, Bariki Mtafya 1,2, Daniela Alferes De Lima 1, Evelin Dombay 1, Vincent O. Baron 1, Khalide Azam 3, Katarina Oravcova 4, Derek J. Sloan 1, Stephen H. Gillespie 1
1Division of Infection and Global Health, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, 2National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)-Mbeya Medical Research Centre, 3Instituto Nacional de Saúde (INS), Ministério da Saúde, 4Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow
We describe a tuberculosis molecular bacterial load assay test performed after heat inactivation of sputum. Heat inactivation renders sputum samples noninfectious and obviates the need for containment level 3 laboratories for tuberculosis molecular tests.