An array of various microbiological diagnostic modalities for pulmonary tuberculosis: A review

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a public health concern in India and rapid diagnostic and cutting-edge methods are needed to identify its drug-resistant forms. The National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 aims for a "TB-Free India" by 2025, based on the 'Detect, Treat, Prevent, and Build' pillars. The aim of this review was to present an updated overview of current initiatives to improve traditional diagnostic techniques as well as novel molecular methods for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The studies were scanned for published publications on tuberculosis, Mycobacterium, TB culture, and other methodologies using a range of scientific sources, including PubMed and Google Scholar. Although a plethora of diagnostic tests are available for pulmonary tuberculosis, each has limitations and advantages. Nonetheless, a combination of tests allows us to obtain an accurate diagnosis more quickly, which helps us to treat these individuals effectively. Rapid reporting and treatment decisions are necessary for tuberculosis diagnosis; however, there are issues with the current approaches- Certain individuals may receive false positive findings, including those who have received prior BCG vaccinations, young people infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), and people coinfected with HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends next-generation Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) for point-of-care diagnostic healthcare settings, such as GeneXpert MTB/RIF (GX), and proposes POC-NAATs (2nd generation) for TB detection in the future.