ArticleBMC infectious diseases2013
Comparison of laboratory costs of rapid molecular tests and conventional diagnostics for detection of tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis Detection Using CRISPR Technology: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2024Pooled it
- Optimizing drug-resistant tuberculosis diagnosis: cost-effectiveness of rapid molecular and phenotypic assays in South Africa.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Strengthening Biomedical Research and Healthcare in Africa Through Localized Reagent Production.BioMed research international · 2026Review
- Utility of alternative specimens in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in people living with human immunodeficiency virus in Guinea.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Xpert MTB/XDR Assay for Detection of Resistance to Isoniazid, Fluoroquinolone, Aminoglycoside, and Ethionamide Among Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Bangladesh.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2025Article
- Burden of tuberculosis in underserved populations in South Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Aptamer-Based Diagnostic Systems for the Rapid Screening of TB at the Point-of-Care.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Diagnostic Performance of GeneChip for the Rapid Detection of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Different Subgroups of Patients.Infection and drug resistance · 2021Article
- Article
- Article
- Cost analysis of smear microscopy and the Xpert assay for tuberculosis diagnosis: average turnaround time.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2020Article
- Genotype®MTBDRplus and Xpert®MTB/RIF in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and resistant tuberculosis: cost analysis in a tertiary referral hospital.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2020Article
- Drones and digital adherence monitoring for community-based tuberculosis control in remote Madagascar: A cost-effectiveness analysis.PloS one · 2020Article
- Performance and impact of GeneXpert MTB/RIF® and Loopamp MTBC Detection Kit® assays on tuberculosis case detection in Madagascar.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Article
- Time-and-motion tool for the assessment of working time in tuberculosis laboratories: a multicentre study.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2018Article
- Cost analysis of rapid diagnostics for drug-resistant tuberculosis.BMC infectious diseases · 2018Article
- Low-cost detection of norovirus using paper-based cell-free systems and synbody-based viral enrichment.Synthetic biology (Oxford, England) · 2018Article
- Article
- Will the current National Strategic Plan enable South Africa to end AIDS, Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Infections by 2022?Southern African journal of HIV medicine · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization has endorsed the use of molecular methods for the detection of TB and drug-resistant TB as a rapid alternative to culture-based systems. In South Africa, the Xpert MTB/Rif assay and the GenoType MTBDRplus have been implemented into reference laboratories for diagnosis of TB and drug-resistance, but their costs have not been fully elucidated.
methodsWe conducted a detailed reference laboratory cost analysis of new rapid molecular assays (Xpert and MTBDRplus) for tuberculosis testing and drug-resistance testing in South Africa, and compared with the costs of conventional approaches involving sputum microscopy, liquid mycobacterial culture, and phenotypic drug sensitivity testing.
resultsFrom a laboratory perspective, Xpert MTB/RIF cost $14.93/sample and the MTBDRplus line probe assay cost $23.46/sample, compared to $16.88/sample using conventional automated liquid culture-based methods. Laboratory costs of Xpert and MTBDRplus were most influenced by cost of consumables (60-80%).
conclusionsAt current public sector pricing, Xpert MTB/RIF and MTBDRplus are comparable in cost to mycobacterial culture and conventional drug sensitivity testing. Overall, reference laboratories must balance costs with performance characteristics and the need for rapid results.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.