ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2026
In-home molecular testing of tongue swabs and sputum to inform household-level screening with diagnostic escalation strategies for tuberculosis contact investigation: a prospective cohort study in South Africa.
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.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Updated by
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Household contact investigation for tuberculosis (TB) is limited by referral for clinic-based testing services. We evaluated the performance of in-home tongue swab (TS) testing among symptom-agnostic household contacts (HHC) to inform HCI screening strategies. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among HHC of TB patients in Eastern Cape, South Africa. In-home testing of sputum and TSs, with TSs pooled from up to three HHCs, was performed using Xpert Ultra on portable GeneExpert devices. Outcomes included diagnostic performance of TS testing relative to sputum and linkage-to-care outcomes. Findings: Between June 2021 and October 2024, 909 HHC were enrolled; 99·1% provided s TS, 31·6% provided sputum. Overall sensitivity and specificity of TS testing was 61·9% (95% CI: 38·4%-81·9%) and 100% (98·9%-100%), respectively; sensitivity was 100% (47·8%-100%) for individually tested swabs. Among two-swab and three-swab pools where ≥1 individual was sputum positive, 55·6% (21·2%-86·3%) and 42·9% (9·9%-81·6%) tested positive, respectively; TS sensitivity declined with decreasing sputum Ultra semi-quantitative category. 27 of 439 (6·2%) households had an indictation of secondary TB; 13 (3·0%) by sputum and TS, 11 (2·5%) by sputum only, 3 (0·7%) by TS only. Sputum testing identified 29 HHC with TB (yield=3·2%); 25/29 (86·2%) linked to care (median 1 day [IQR 1-2]). Interpretation: While in-home molecular testing of sputum supported rapid linkage-to-care, and TSs enabled near-universal testing of symptom-agnostic HHCs, efficiency gains through pooled TS testing must be balance against sensitivity trade-offs. Funding: U.S. NIH; Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
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.