Integrating clinical services for HIV, tuberculosis, and cryptococcal disease in the developing world: a step forward with 2 novel diagnostic tests.
The success of antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs in the developing world is limited by the lack of adequate diagnostic tests to screen for life-threatening opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis (TB) and cryptococcal disease. Furthermore, there is an increasing need for implementation research in measuring the effectiveness of currently available rapid diagnostic tests. The recently developed lateral flow assays for both cryptococcal disease and TB have the potential to improve care and greatly reduce the time to initiation of ART among individuals who need it the most. However, we caution that the data on feasibility and effectiveness of these assays are limited and such research agendas must be prioritized.
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Tara
T
Vijayan
Jeffrey D
JD
Klausner
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D003906:Developing Countries; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents
cryptococcosis; point-of-care diagnostics; service integration; tuberculosis