A quick blood test that can detect tuberculosis infection before symptoms
appear has been developed. Conventional tests cannot easily distinguish between
people with TB and those who have had the BCG vaccine. But Ajit Lalvani at the
University of Oxford says his test looks for a specific immune cell reaction to
a protein in the TB bacterium. When used on 50 people with differing exposures
to tuberculosis patients, the new test detected infection earlier and wasn’t
fooled by vaccinations (The Lancet vol 357, p 2017).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ articles
1
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
2
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
3
Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them
4
Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting
5
Red-light therapy does have health benefits but not the ones you think
6
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
7
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
8
Millions of planets might form around supermassive black holes
9
'The book is in the future, but everything is seeded from our present'
10
First quantum grandfather clock could probe where gravity comes from
