Our medical consultant answers your TB related questions

Why is TB screening important, especially as a lab test is still required?

It is obvious, to some, that the huge numbers of people who require some form of test to determine whether they are infectious or not, represents a substantial burden in the form of cost and labor, to the various health agencies.

An accurate, low cost, simple to operate screening devise will ease part of this burden and thus by determining who has a higher indication of potential infection, indicate those to be subjected to the more costly and time consuming laboratory test.

Why is the RBS screening device better than other TB screening tests?

How much training is involved to be able to collect a sample and to use the optical reader?

What about if the patient can't cough a sample - what can we do?

The population groups at greater risk from TB are the young and elderly - is this true and are there any special conditions we need to be aware of when handling the RBS product with these groups?

How do we safely dispose of the sample collection tubes?

How often can we use the reader, and can we use it to screen for other infectious diseases?

How many readers will we need to screen a group of several hundred people - is there an optimal number of readers required for certain population groups i.e is the screening speed subject to the population group type?

Using this test, how long will it take to get a result, and how accurate will this result be?

Is the RBS test cost effective when compared with what is currently available, and thus attractive to potential purchasers?