Two research studies in this week's PLoS Medicine suggest that a new automated DNA test for tuberculosis (Xpert MTB/RIF), which can detect TB within 2 hours and has been endorsed by the World Health Organization, can significantly increase TB detection rate compared to other tests, particularly in HIV positive patients who have a high risk of being infected with TB, including multidrug resistant TB. An accompanying Essay and Perspective highlight the economic challenges and implications of such diagnostic tests.

The lipoarabinomannan (LAM) urinary assay isn't accurate enough to be used for routine diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB), according to a review in the European Respiratory Journal.