{"id":4476,"date":"2021-09-15T16:49:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T04:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/?page_id=4476"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:23:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T02:23:27","slug":"tuberculosis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuberculosis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Infection:<\/strong> Tuberculosis; <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis; <\/em>TB<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Brief description:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>Lung infection is the most common presentation, however extra-pulmonary disease is also common. TB can involve essentially any body system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TB is considered potentially infectious if the lungs are involved. Extra-pulmonary infection is not infectious, unless the infection communicates with the outside world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider TB in people with risk factors (born in high incidence country or prior exposure).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Did you know?<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>In general, TB is a slow moving disease. Symptoms will often be gradual in onset or prolonged. People presenting with an acute illness are less likely to have TB as the cause.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Test of choice and who should I test?<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>Request <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/26784\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mycobacterial culture<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Culture<\/strong> is the gold standard diagnostic test. This allows full identification and susceptibility testing of the organism. Sample type will <strong>depend on the affected tissue or organ<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Pulmonary disease:&nbsp;<strong>sputum<\/strong> (induced\/bronchoscopy sample if non-productive)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Extra-pulmonary: <strong>biopsy<\/strong> or <strong>aspirate<\/strong> of affected tissue e.g. lymph node biopsy, pleural fluid aspirate, urine for renal TB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Excellent <strong>specificity<\/strong> &#8211; a positive culture <strong>confirms<\/strong> the diagnosis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Variable <strong>sensitivity<\/strong> &#8211; depends on the <strong>sample type<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TB doesn\u2019t grow on normal culture media, so <strong>TB\/mycobacterial culture<\/strong> needs to be <strong>specifically requested<\/strong> on the form. Typically takes <strong>2-3 weeks<\/strong> to come positive. Samples cultured for <strong>6 weeks<\/strong> total.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/26784\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AFB microscopy<\/a><\/strong> is <strong>automatically done<\/strong> by the lab if TB\/mycobacterial culture is requested<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Used to help <strong>assess the infectiousness<\/strong> of people with pulmonary TB.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It has <strong>limited sensitivity<\/strong> and <strong>specificity<\/strong> as a stand-alone diagnostic test for TB.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/7383\">PCR<\/a><\/strong> (e.g. GeneXpert) can also be used to diagnose TB<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sensitivity<\/strong> is <strong>slightly lower<\/strong> than culture, but <strong>specificity<\/strong> is similarly <strong>high<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can <strong>rule in<\/strong> the diagnosis <strong>rapidly<\/strong> compared to culture, but <strong>does not provide full susceptibility information<\/strong> to guide treatment \u2013 culture is still required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mostly used if a <strong>rapid result <\/strong>is particularly important e.g. unwell patient who needs urgent treatment, significant Public Health implications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Tests to avoid\/specialist tests:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/27343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">QuantiFERON-TB Gold<\/a> <\/strong>is a test for <strong>past exposure<\/strong> to TB (<strong>latent<\/strong> <strong>infection<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Is used in people who <strong>may benefit from latent TB treatment<\/strong> e.g. prior to certain types of immunosuppression, immigrants from high incidence countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is <strong>not recommended<\/strong> to investigate for possible <strong>active TB<\/strong>, as it can neither rule it in nor rule it out. It is occasionally used by specialists if a culture-based diagnosis is difficult, however it cannot provide a definitive answer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Other considerations:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>TB is a notifiable disease. Seek specialist help <strong>urgently<\/strong> if <strong>pulmonary TB<\/strong> is suspected, as it may be a Public Health risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Taking samples, e.g. sputum, biopsies, can potentially expose the collector to infectious aerosols. <strong>Wear appropriate PPE<\/strong> if TB is a possibility (i.e N95, or equivalent, mask).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Infection: Tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; TB","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":4222,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-left-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Infection: Tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; TB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Awanui Labs - Wellington\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T02:23:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Awanui-Labs-Lab-Technician-min.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"917\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/\",\"name\":\"Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-15T04:49:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-05T02:23:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For Referrers\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Microbiology resources\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"How do I diagnose?\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Tuberculosis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/\",\"name\":\"Awanui Labs - Wellington\",\"description\":\"Laboratory and pathology services\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Awanui Labs - Wellington\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/RGB_Awanui-Labs-horizonal-colour-positive.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/RGB_Awanui-Labs-horizonal-colour-positive.svg\",\"width\":861,\"height\":133,\"caption\":\"Awanui Labs - Wellington\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington","og_description":"Infection: Tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; TB","og_url":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/","og_site_name":"Awanui Labs - Wellington","article_modified_time":"2025-05-05T02:23:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":917,"url":"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Awanui-Labs-Lab-Technician-min.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/","name":"Tuberculosis &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-15T04:49:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-05T02:23:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/tuberculosis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For Referrers","item":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Microbiology resources","item":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How do I diagnose?","item":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Tuberculosis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/","name":"Awanui Labs - Wellington","description":"Laboratory and pathology services","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#organization","name":"Awanui Labs - Wellington","url":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-NZ","@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/RGB_Awanui-Labs-horizonal-colour-positive.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/RGB_Awanui-Labs-horizonal-colour-positive.svg","width":861,"height":133,"caption":"Awanui Labs - Wellington"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4476"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6527,"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4476\/revisions\/6527"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}