Simple Rapid Near-Patient Diagnostics for Tuberculosis Remain Elusive-Is a 'Treat-to-Test' Strategy More Realistic?

An accurate, simple, and direct test for tuberculosis (TB) has been a priority for many years, but to date no such test has become available. Easily detectable sensitive and specific biomarkers are elusive and may remain so. In parallel to the essential extensive efforts in biomarker discovery performed in this field, we suggest it is also worthwhile to evaluate the utility of biomarkers of TB infection in a ‘‘treat-to-test’’ strategy. Biomarkers of TB infection already identified or detected in ongoing systematic studies that are not useful for simple near-patient tests may nonetheless be suitable in a treat-to-test strategy. Thus, we call for the investigation of the kinetics of these biomarkers during the early phase of treatment. Background To date no simple, rapid, accurate test