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Volume 27, Number 3—March 2021
Synopsis

Systematic Review of Pooling Sputum as an Efficient Method for Xpert MTB/RIF Tuberculosis Testing during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Luis E. CuevasComments to Author , Victor S. Santos, Shirley Verônica Melo Almeida Lima, Konstantina Kontogianni, John S. Bimba, Vibol Iem, Jose Dominguez, Emily Adams, Ana Cubas Atienzar, Thomas Edwards, S. Bertel Squire, Patricia J. Hall, and Jacob Creswell
Author affiliations: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK (L.E. Cuevas, K. Kontogianni, V. Iem, E. Adams, A.T. Atienzar, T. Edwards, S.B. Squire); Federal University of Alagoas, Arapiraca, Brazil (V.S. Santos); Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Brazil (S.V.M. Almeida Lima); Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria (J.S. Bimba); National TB Control Program, Vientiane, Laos (V. Iem); Institut d'Investigació Germans Trias i Pujol and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain (J. Dominguez); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (P.J. Hall); Stop TB Partnership, Innovations and Grants, Geneva, Switzerland (J. Creswell)

Main Article

Table 2

Tuberculosis Xpert results of pools composed of positive and negative samples, with sensitivity and specificity, in a systematic review of pooling sputum as an efficient method for Xpert MTB/RIF and Ultra testing for tuberculosis during the coronavirus disease pandemic

Study
 Pooling ratio
 Test results, no.
 Sensitivity,
% (95% CI)
 Specificity,
% (95% CI)
True pos†
 False pos‡
 False neg†
 True neg‡
(11) 1:5 (Cult neg/SM pos) 20 NA 0 NA 100 (80–100) NR
1:5 (Cult pos/SM neg)
 13
 NA
 4
 NA
 76 (50–92)
 NR
(12)
 1:4
 80
 1
 5
 96
 94 (87–98)
 99 (94–100)
(13) 1:2 14 NA 2 NA 88 (62–98) NR
1:4 14 NA 2 NA 88 (62–98) NR
1:6 11 NA 5 NA 69 (41–98) NR
1:8 10 NA 6 NA 63 (35–85) NR
1:10 13 NA 3 NA 81 (54–96) NR
1:12
 13
 NA
 3
 NA
 81 (54–96)
 NR
(14)
 1:2
 95
 NA
 4
 NA
 96 (90–99)
 NR
(15)
 1:4
 73
 0
 0
 80
 100 (95–100)
 100 (96–100)
(10) 1:4 19 NA 1 NA 95 (75–100) NR
1:8 20 NA 0 NA 100 (83–100) NR
1:12 16 NA 4 NA 80 (56–94) NR
1:16 39 0 1 0 98 (87–100) NR

*Xpert MTB/RIF and Ultra, Cepheid (https://www.cepheid.com). Cult, culture, NA, not applicable; neg, negative; NR, not reported; pos, positive; SM, smear.
†At least one of the patients included in the pool had an Xpert-positive test.
‡All patients included in the pool were Xpert-negative in the individual tests.

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Page updated: February 23, 2021
Page reviewed: February 23, 2021
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