A Test For Serodiagnosis Of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

In this article, a latex agglutination test using a new antigen for serodiagnosis of pulmonaty tuberculosis has been described and test results have been presented. Research has been conducted with 107 people including 47 with active pulmonary tuberculosis, 8 with inactive tuberculous lesions, 32 with non-tuberculous pulmonary diseases, and the remaining 20 healthy subjects. The antigen used in the test has been obtained by the mechanical breakdown with glass beads of the tuberculosis bacilli cultured on Sauton medium solidified with agar. Test result have been positive in 34 of the 47 active tuberculosis patients (72,3 %), and negative in 14 (27,7 %). Test results have been negative in 7 (87,5 %) out of the 8 cases with inactive lesions. For all 32 with non-tuberculous pulmonary diseases, as well as the 20 healthy subjects tests have given negative results. Based on these results the sensitivity of the test has been calculated as 72,3 % and its specificity as 98,3 %.