Mycobacterium tuberculosis PCR

This PCR based assay was originally developed for use in Gribbles Malaysia laboratories to provide an improved service to both doctors and patients in a country where the incidence of tuberculosis is much higher than in Australia.

This test is employed only in two circumstances, firstly to provide more rapid confirmation of presumptive TB where acid fast organisms can be demonstrated in primary clinical material eg sputum and secondly, to allow rapid verification that a presumptive mycobacterium grown on culture is or is not M.tuberculosis.

Molecular tests are inherently less sensitive than traditional culture for detecting M.Tb. which is the reason they are not performed in a primary screening role.