Automated extraction and amplification for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in various clinical samples.

Abstract : With the incidence of culture-positive tuberculosis (TB) cases at 25.3 per 100,000 and a 25% rate of TB/HIV coinfection, the TB incidence in French Guiana is the highest of all French regions. In this context, there is an urgent need for simple, automated systems for molecular diagnosis of TB that can be adapted to small laboratories. Introduction of a nuclear amplification test in a routine clinical laboratory is an additional expense, and its cost-effectiveness and clinical utility need to be evaluated and seem to be optimized when used for diagnosis in patients with an intermediate-to-high likelihood of TB.