As per a report that has been documented in the Sept. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers have been able to come up with a new experimental test that can accurately and in a speedy manner diagnose tuberculosis.

As per the details, with the aid of this new test, tuberculosis diagnosis can be done in less than two hours. Also, the doctor visits would only remain to one, which would be necessary only prior to the treatment.

Due to the tremendous benefits of this experimental test, it is being deemed as one of the most potential developments to fight the disease. Termed as the "Xpert MTB/RIF", the test is used for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis and also is resistant to rifampin (RIF). It is reported that the test has an accuracy of 97% and the phenomenal test can also detect TB that is resistant to drugs.

The Company responsible for the creation of the test is Cepheid, which is a California-based corporation.

The study that was undertaken by a team of researchers spearheaded by Dr. Catharina C. Boehme, of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics in Geneva, Switzerland, made use of the test on as many as 1,730 patients, which were from countries like Azerbaijan, India, Peru and South Africa. It was suspected that all the selected patients were drug-sensitive or had multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.

Post the analysis, it was brought forth that TB was detected in 99.2%. Further, the people whose diagnosis was not successful in the traditional microscopic exam, the new test made the diagnosis in 72.5% of people.