Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40896248›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2025

Performance of Tongue Swabs for Tuberculosis Diagnosis in Hospitalized Children Under 5 Years of Age.

Sanjay G Lala, Christopher Ealand, Ziyaad Dangor, Khuthadzo Hlongwane, Minja Milovanovic, Kathleen Car, Alison van der Nest, Tannah Cleak, Olivia Jacobs, Astika Sewcharran and 7 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

17 authors.

Sanjay G LalaDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-513X
Christopher EalandDSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ziyaad DangorDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Khuthadzo HlongwanePerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Minja MilovanovicPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4654-8755
Kathleen CarPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Alison van der NestPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tannah CleakPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Olivia JacobsDSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Astika SewcharranDSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Serene KeenanDSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gary ReubensonDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Pattamukkil AbrahamPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mulisa MudauPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jonathan E GolubCenter for Tuberculosis Research, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Neil MartinsonPerinatal HIV Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bavesh KanaDSI/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical TB Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis remains difficult in children under 5 years of age (under-5s), who have high TB morbidity and mortality rates. In a high-burden TB setting, we investigated the diagnostic characteristics of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra testing of tongue swabs (TS-XU) collected from under-5s. Methods: In a masked, prospective, observational study, tongue swabs were collected from enrolled hospitalized under-5s deemed high risk for TB disease who were categorized into 1 of the following: confirmed, unconfirmed, or unlikely TB. Results: Of 201 enrolled under-5s, 11 (5.5%) had confirmed TB, 53 (26.4%) unconfirmed TB, and 137 (68.2%) unlikely TB. TS-XU testing reported " Conclusions: Despite the difficulty of interpreting trace-positive results, TS-XU testing increased TB detection rates in hospitalized under-5s with presumptive TB.

Indexed as

children less than 5 years of agetongue swabstuberculosisXpert MTB/RIF Ultra

Identifiers

PMID40896248
PMCPMC12396590

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Registered trials

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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.