Adult patient with presumptive TB will be screened for inclusion at 4 geographically diverse participating centres in high TB burden countries. This will be the first large scale evaluation on prospectively collected fresh samples.~Telephonic follow-up visits at 2 weeks (for baseline COVID-19 negative patients) and 2 months (for all participants) after enrolment will help overcome the challenges of using MRS only. Follow-up will be conducted telephonically two weeks post-enrolment for participants who tested negative for COVID-19at enrolment to determine any change in status -this is intended to account for participants who may have tested 'early' for COVID-19at enrolment (false negative) but subsequently developed symptoms or tested COVID-19positive. Similarly, investigators will conduct a telephonic follow-up two months post-enrolment among all participants to determine if: 1) participants diagnosed with confirmed TB at enrolment were linked to treatment; and 2) assess if any new TB diagnoses were made.~This multi-center study will evaluate the performance of the Truenat™ MTB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) Plus/COVID-19multiplex test using prospectively collected NP swabs and sputum samples from patients with symptoms suggestive of TB and collect alternative tongue swab samples for further research use. The data gathered from this study, will form part of the dossier to be submitted to WHO (world health organization) for review.
This is a prospective, multicentre study in which the accuracy of the Molbio Diagnostics Truenat™ MTB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) Plus/COVID-19multiplex will be assessed for TB and COVID-19 case detection using prospectively collected NP swabs and sputum samples from patients with symptoms suggestive of TB.~The overall study period is of 24 months which includes telephonic follow-up of the baseline COVID-19negative patients at 2 weeks and of all participants at 2 months.