Quick diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Scientists say that by experimenting with mice, it is only necessary to test the breath, compare and point out abnormal changes that can diagnose lung infections including tuberculosis.

The near future can upgrade this version to serve human diagnosis, and only need a few minutes, not take a few weeks to get results.

Bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The Daily Mail quoted Dr. Jane Hill, a research member from the University of Vermont (USA), saying the traditional method for diagnosing bacterial pneumonia requires a collection of samples. Thereby used to culture bacteria, isolate and use biochemical testing to know whether they are resistant to the drug, if it is resistant, what kind of antibiotic is it. The whole process follows the routine of taking several days for common types of bacteria, even weeks for tuberculosis. Meanwhile, breath analysis takes only a few minutes to produce results.

Scientists analyzed volatile organic compounds to trace the two common pneumonia-causing bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus , indicating very clear traces of breath traces. of mice participating in the experiment. ' I believe that with the breath test method, we can distinguish lung pathogens including bacteria, viruses and lung diseases , ' said Dr. Hill.

Tuberculosis had spread in England until the 1950s, temporarily controlled by antibiotics. Last year, in the UK, there were more than 9,000 cases of tuberculosis in the UK, up 5% from the previous year. The highest risk area in the UK remains London with 3,588 cases reported in 2011, mostly immigrants. Therefore, British law requires X-ray examination before immigrating to the country.