WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis: module 3: diagnosis, 2nd ed.

Overview

The WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 3: Diagnosis. Second edition combines the WHO policy guidance on detection of TB infection, disease and drug resistance into a single reference document. Compared to the previous edition, the updated guidelines present new recommendations on a new near point-of-care diagnostic class that enables diagnosis of TB at peripheral levels of the health system, tongue swabs as new sample types for TB that enable testing of people who are unable to produce sputum, and pooling of sputa as a new diagnostic strategy for diagnosis of TB and rifampicin resistance that improves efficiency while reduces costs for settings with exceptional resource constraints.

The publication of the WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 3: Diagnosis. Second edition is accompanied by a new, living website that presents the diagnostic classes and products recommended by WHO for diagnosis of TB, drug-resistant TB and TB infection, as well as each product’s WHO prequalification status. This change reflects the growing role of WHO prequalification in TB diagnostic eligibility for WHO endorsement. The product list will be routinely reviewed and updated as the TB diagnostic market continues to expand and tests achieve prequalification listing. Supporting operational guidance for the WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 3: Diagnosis. Second edition. Second edition is also being developed and will be released in the coming months.