Tuberculosis Test is an Analysis of your TB Health

All of us know that Tuberculosis test are carried out with quite difficulty, however there are many tests prevailing. Today in this article lets, we have a discussion about the variety of such tests.

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What is tuberculosis or (TB)?

Tuberculosis or more commonly known as TB, is definitely an infection, which is caused by a germ, called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This is an infection which usually affects the lungs, however, it can also affect any other part of the body.

How is tuberculosis diagnosed?

It is also true that diagnosing TB is sometimes very easy and straightforward, but the diagnosis may be more difficult for some people. In general, the complete analysis is always done on the basis of the clinical picture, along with the symptoms you are experiencing. The combined results will always give you an accurate analysis. There are many Tuberculosis test which can be conducted, to begin with chest X-ray then the tuberculin skin test, followed by phlegm tests. 

The Chest X-Ray
A chest X-ray is one such test which, usually shows any active lung TB. It may as well show you the healed or inactive TB.

The Tuberculin skin testing (Mantoux test)

This is the test which, indeed shows whether you have actually been in contact with TB germs at some point or the other in your life. However, it can never be proved, whether you have a current active infection. The tuberculin test is in fact made from part of the TB bacterium. It is the one injected into the skin, and this injection site is examined few days later.

The Sputum Tests

If the chest x-ray or even the tuberculin test results suggest that the infection is possible, then the next test which will be looked for is testing the TB bacteria from the lung. This is actually done by simply sending the samples of sputum to the laboratory. The Sputum Tests, is indeed the one, in which the smear of the sputum is examined in a laboratory, under a microscope by suing a special dye, or a stain to show the TB bacteria.

The Culture Test

Another most important test for the sputum samples is a culture test. This actually involves growing the TB bacteria in the laboratory.  This can take several weeks since these bacteria usually grow very slowly. There are basically two important reasons for doing this test. Firstly and most important point is to detect TB bacteria that may not be found on the smear test. Secondly, the culture test can actually check whether the TB bacteria are resistant to any kind of antibiotic medicines.

If you have a look at the test then it can be seen that all these tests however proves the infection. Therefore, many people who have been suspected with active TB, with the typical symptoms and X-ray changes, are started on the treatment before the results come back. This is indeed done to prevent the disease from getting worse and at the same time from preventing it to spread further.

There are also some other possible Tuberculosis test, like:

·         The blood test known as interferon gamma test

·         The HIV test should always be offered

·         The ACT or the MRI scan may be used to look for TB in the internal organs

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