Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31346252›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2019

Microbiological diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in children by oral swab polymerase chain reaction.

Mark P Nicol, Rachel C Wood, Lesley Workman, Margaretha Prins, Cynthia Whitman, Yonas Ghebrekristos, Slindile Mbhele, Alaina Olson, Lisa E Jones-Engel, Heather J Zar and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
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  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. High-sensitivity detection ofJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025
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  11. Review
  12. High-sensitivity detection ofmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024
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  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Tongue swab testing on two automated tuberculosis diagnostic platforms, Cepheid XpertmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Mark P NicolDivision of Medical Microbiology and Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1366-4805
Rachel C WoodDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Lesley WorkmanDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, and MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Margaretha PrinsDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, and MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Cynthia WhitmanDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, and MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Yonas GhebrekristosDivision of Medical Microbiology and Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Slindile MbheleDivision of Medical Microbiology and Institute for Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Alaina OlsonDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Lisa E Jones-EngelDepartment of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6912-494X
Heather J ZarDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, and MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Gerard A CangelosiDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. gcang@uw.edu.
University of Cape Town · ZAUniversity of Washington · US

Funding

Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in HIV-infected children & development of microbiologicR01HD058971 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN · PI ZAR, HEATHER JOY · 2008 to 2012
$2.2M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD058971
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Microbiological diagnosis of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is challenging due to the difficulty of collecting and testing sputum from children. We investigated whether easily-obtained oral swab samples are useful alternatives or supplements to sputum. Oral swabs and induced sputum (IS) were collected from 201 South African children with suspected pulmonary TB. IS samples were tested by mycobacterial culture and Xpert MTB/RIF. Oral swabs were tested by PCR targeting IS6110. Children were categorized as Confirmed TB (microbiologic confirmation on IS), Unconfirmed TB (clinical diagnosis only), or Unlikely TB (recovery without TB treatment). Relative to Confirmed TB, PCR on two oral swabs per child was 43% sensitive and 93% specific. This sensitivity fell below that of sputum Xpert (64%). Among children with either Confirmed or Unconfirmed TB, PCR on two oral swabs per child was 31% sensitive and 93% specific, which was more sensitive than sputum testing among this group (21%). Although oral swab analysis had low sensitivity in sputum-positive children, it detected TB in a significant proportion of sputum-negative children who were clinically diagnosed with TB. Specificity at 93% was suboptimal but may improve with the use of automated methods. With further development, oral swabs may become useful supplements to sputum as samples for diagnosis of pulmonary TB in children.

Indexed as

AdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMaleMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesMouth MucosaMycobacterium tuberculosisPolymerase Chain ReactionSensitivity and SpecificitySputumTuberculosis, Pulmonary

Identifiers

PMID31346252
PMCPMC6658562
OpenAlexW2964208711

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.