Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41728307›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026

Tongue swab

Rachel C Wood, Alaina M Olson, Katherine A Lochner, Rane B Dragovich, Alexey Ball, Amy Steadman, Tahlia Perumal, Simon C Mendelsohn, Humphrey Mulenga, Michele Tameris and 22 more

Abstract readPreprint
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

32 authors.

Rachel C WoodUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Alaina M OlsonUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Katherine A LochnerUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Rane B DragovichUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Alexey BallGlobal Health Labs, Bellevue, Washington, USA.
Amy SteadmanGlobal Health Labs, Bellevue, Washington, USA.
Tahlia PerumalUniversity of Cape Town Lung Institute, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, Cape Town, South Africa.
Simon C MendelsohnSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-4054-2766
Humphrey MulengaSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Michele TamerisSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Denis AwanySouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tumelo MoloantoaPerinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Stephanus T MalherbeSouth African Medical Research Council Centre for TB Research; Division of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Austin KatonaVanderbilt Tuberculosis Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Fernanda MaruriVanderbilt Tuberculosis Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Kris M WeigelUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Firdows NoorSouth African Medical Research Council Centre for TB Research; Division of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Ravindre PanchiaPerinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Khuthadzo HlongwanePerinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kim StanleySouth African Medical Research Council Centre for TB Research; Division of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Yuri F van der HeijdenVanderbilt Tuberculosis Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Katie HadleySouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Gerhard WalzlSouth African Medical Research Council Centre for TB Research; Division of Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Thomas J ScribaSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-0641-1359
Neil A MartinsonPerinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Keertan DhedaUniversity of Cape Town Lung Institute, Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity, Cape Town, South Africa.
Al LeslieAfrica Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.
Bernard FourieUniversity of Pretoria TB Research Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.
Timothy R SterlingVanderbilt Tuberculosis Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Gerard A CangelosiUniversity of Washington, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Mark HatherillSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-3491-1809
RePORT South Africa Study Team

Funding

Evaluation of new diagnostics for incident, active and recurrent TB (ENDx-Tb)U01AI152075 · NIAID · STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY · PI BELISLE, JOHN T, SUTHERLAND, JAYNE · 2020 to 2025
$7.1M
NIAID NIH HHS U01 AI152075Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDiagnostic performance of tongue swab

methodsTongue swabs were collected from adult household contacts of TB patients (HHC Cohort), and symptomatic adults presenting to clinics with presumptive TB (Clinic Cohort), at eight South African sites. TB Cases were defined by positive sputum Xpert Ultra or liquid culture, performed in all participants; and matched ~1:3 (HHC Cohort) or ~1:2 (Clinic Cohort) to Controls without TB. Tongue swabs in both cohorts were tested by high-volume qPCR; and in the Clinic Cohort, also by sequence-specific magnetic capture (SSMaC) with qPCR.

resultsThe Clinic Cohort included 217 TB Cases (100% symptomatic) and 437 Controls. The HHC Cohort included 44 TB Cases (84.1% asymptomatic) and 136 Controls. In the Clinic Cohort, sensitivity of SSMaC with qPCR was 73.2% (specificity 94.6%), but not significantly higher than high-volume qPCR (63.8%;

conclusionsSensitivity of tongue swab high-volume qPCR for community-based, household screening for asymptomatic TB was low, approximately half that of facility-based triage for symptomatic TB, but increased with radiographic severity and sputum bacillary load.

Identifiers

PMID41728307
PMCPMC12919145

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.