ArticlePloS one2021
Characterization of oral swab samples for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07517471 (Start4All - Start Taking Action for TB Diagnosis SCREEN-TB), which is not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Start4All - Start Taking Action for TB Diagnosis SCREEN-TB
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oral swabs with a rapid molecular diagnostic test for pulmonary tuberculosis in adults and children: a systematic review.The Lancet. Global health · 2024Pooled it
- Accuracy of upper respiratory tract samples to diagnose Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Microbe · 2023Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy of oral swab for detection of pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Pulmonary Tuberculosis Detection with MiniDock MTB Using Swab Samples.The New England journal of medicine · 2026Trial
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Molecular Testing on Saliva and Oral Swabs for Pulmonary Tuberculosis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- An optimal processing method for recovery of tuberculosis in the tongue swab using theMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Diagnostic accuracy and acceptability of self- and health worker-collected tongue swabs formedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Acceptability of tongue swabs for tuberculosis screening in migrant settings in northern Italy: A qualitative study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Testing tongue swab samples by Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra: comparison of two protocols applied to samples from persons with low-bacillary load TB.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Improving tuberculosis diagnosis: evaluation of tongue swabbing as a complementary method to sputum analysis in Guinea.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2025Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of swab-based molecular tests for tuberculosis using near-point-of-care platforms: a multi-country evaluation.EBioMedicine · 2025Article
- Oral Rinse as an Alternative Diagnostic Specimen for Detection of Tuberculosis.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Preferences for tongue swab-based versus sputum-based testing in the context of TB care: a best-worst scaling exercise in Vietnam and Zambia.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Exploration of tongue dorsum sampling to support clinical diagnosis of leprosy patients in the Comoros: A cross-sectional study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Oral washes and tongue swabs for Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra-based tuberculosis diagnosis in people with and without the ability to make sputum.Research square · 2025Article
- Optimal processing of tongue swab samples forMicrobiology spectrum · 2025Article
- High-sensitivity detection ofJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Rapid quantitative PCR on tongue swabs for pulmonary tuberculosis in adults: a prospective multicentre study.The European respiratory journal · 2025Article
- WHO target product profile for TB detection at peripheral settings: 2024 update.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Non-sputum-based samples and biomarkers for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: the hope to improve childhood and HIV-associated tuberculosis diagnosis.European journal of medical research · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
25 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Oral swab analysis (OSA) has been shown to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). In previous analyses, qPCR testing of swab samples collected from tongue dorsa was up to 93% sensitive relative to sputum GeneXpert, when 2 swabs per patient were tested. The present study modified sample collection methods to increase sample biomass and characterized the viability of bacilli present in tongue swabs. A qPCR targeting conserved bacterial ribosomal rRNA gene (rDNA) sequences was used to quantify bacterial biomass in samples. There was no detectable reduction in total bacterial rDNA signal over the course of 10 rapidly repeated tongue samplings, indicating that swabs collect only a small portion of the biomass available for testing. Copan FLOQSwabs collected ~2-fold more biomass than Puritan PurFlock swabs, the best brand used previously (p = 0.006). FLOQSwabs were therefore evaluated in patients with possible TB in Uganda. A FLOQSwab was collected from each patient upon enrollment (Day 1) and, in a subset of sputum GeneXpert Ultra-positive patients, a second swab was collected on the following day (Day 2). Swabs were tested for MTB DNA by manual IS6110-targeted qPCR. Relative to sputum GeneXpert Ultra, single-swab sensitivity was 88% (44/50) on Day 1 and 94.4% (17/18) on Day 2. Specificity was 79.2% (42/53). Among an expanded sample of Ugandan patients, 62% (87/141) had colony-forming bacilli in their tongue dorsum swab samples. These findings will help guide further development of this promising TB screening method.
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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.