ArticleClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2026
Diagnostic Performance of the Pluslife MiniDock MTB and Molbio MTB Ultima Assays to Detect Tuberculosis From Tongue and Sputum Swabs Among Outpatients and in Active Case Finding in Cameroon.
Article in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy and Usability of the PluslifeDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Centralized molecular testing of community-collected tongue swabs for tuberculosis screening among household contacts: a cross-sectional diagnostic performance, yield, and implementation study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Closing gaps through innovation in the tuberculosis pathology value chain.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026Review
- Tongue swab-based Targeted Universal Tuberculosis Testing in people living with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Development of a Rapid Automated Point-of-Care Test formedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- In-home molecular testing of tongue swabs and sputum to inform household-level screening with diagnostic escalation strategies for tuberculosis contact investigation: a prospective cohort study in South Africa.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Tongue swabmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- From gaps to progress: five-year global advances in the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Diagnostic accuracy study of the multiplex Truenat MTB Ultima/COVID-19 assay for simultaneous detection of Tuberculosis and SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19).PLOS global public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCost and infrastructure requirements limit access to current rapid molecular diagnostic testing for tuberculosis (TB). Recent developments in novel, swab-based assays that can be used closer to the point of care offer the potential to change the TB diagnostic landscape.
methodsWe assessed the diagnostic accuracy of 2 tests, Molbio Truenat MTB Ultima (MTB Ultima) and Pluslife MiniDock MTB Test (MiniDock MTB), among consecutively enrolled individuals aged 15 years and older, against the reference standard of culture and comparators of microscopy and Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra. Two tongue swabs, either self-collected or healthcare worker collected, and 2 sputum specimens were requested from each participant; MiniDock MTB was tested the same day and MTB Ultima was tested after storage.
resultsFrom February to June 2025, 1097 participants were enrolled in communities (382) and at health facilities (715). Sensitivities of sputum and tongue swabs on MiniDock MTB among 132 people with culture-positive TB were 86% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79-91) and 76% (95% CI, 68-82), respectively, and 67% (95% CI, 51-79) and 44% (29-59) among those with smear-negative TB. Sensitivities of sputum and tongue swabs on MTB Ultima were 84% (97/116; 95% CI, 76-89) and 74% (67/91; 95% CI, 64-82), respectively, and 58% (95% CI, 41-74) and 33% (95% CI, 18-53) among those with smear-negative TB.
conclusionsIn this population, the performance of both MiniDock MTB and MTB Ultima on tongue and sputum swabs was similar to target product profile thresholds for near point-of-care TB tests. Further studies to evaluate performance in diverse populations and settings are needed.
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