VPCIR did a field trial of the REEAD (Rolling Circle Enhanced Enzyme Activity Detection) technology for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, TB, from February to September 2023. The protocol was developed in a collaboration between the Directorate General for Disease Surveillance and Control, Muscat, Oman, and the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Aarhus University during autumn 2022.
The study was in two parts:
- Part one focused on migrant workers with suspected pulmonary TB. Migrant workers in Oman have a chest X-ray every second year as part of the process for visa renewal. If the chest X-ray is not clear, sputum is sent to molecular analysis for TB by the GeneXpert (Cepheid) system. For these individuals the study added a saliva sample for REEAD. The purpose of this study was to compare REEAD to GeneXpert.
- Part two enrolled patient with GeneXpert proven TB admitted to the specialized TB hospital in Muscat and took saliva samples every three to four days during the usual two to three weeks in the hospital. The purpose of this study was to look at the strength of the REEAD signal after TB treatment was started. Read is based on the presence of an active enzyme, and when a cell like the TB bacteria die, the enzyme is rapidly degraded and therefore, we expect that REEAD TB can be used to see a treatment response by a declining number of live bacteria over time.
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