Rapid TB Detection Approved in India

6 October 2025

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India is the tuberculosis (TB) capital of the world, reporting about 2.5 million new cases annually. TB is the country’s most fatal infectious disease, with an estimated 500,000 related fatalities every year. The WHO says eliminating TB depends on early, accurate, and universal detection to reduce community transmission of this airborne disease.

To help reduce this significant health issue, the Indian Council of Medical Research has recently validated innovative tools from Huwel Lifesciences: the Quantiplus MTB FAST detection kit and the UniAMP MTB Nucleic Acid Test Card.

A recent study concluded that the Quantiplus assay demonstrated sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 96%, respectively, for the detection of pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) in sputum samples, compared to liquid culture, and showed significant improvement with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay.

The diagnostic performance of the Quantiplus® assay is comparable to that of the Truenat MTB assay reported earlier. The limitation of the assay is that it requires a clean environment to avoid cross-contamination.

These new technologies promise to transform TB detection, making it faster, more affordable, and broadly accessible across India.

The 100-year-old Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the primary TB vaccine used in India. BCG provides partial protection against TB infection, especially in high-risk populations. It is administered to infants as part of the National Immunization Program.

India is actively involved in the development of new TB vaccines, such as MTBVAC and VPM1002. These vaccine candidates aim to provide broader and more durable protection against TB.

In the United States, access to the FDA-approved BCG vaccine is limited even as TB cases continue to increase.

By Don Hackett

Source: Vax-Before-Travel

Rapid TB Detection Approved in India

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