Laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis – how rapid can it get?

The aim of any diagnostic procedure is rapidity and reduced turnaround time. This becomes an urgent necessity especially for common infectious diseases. In India, the commonest infectious disease being tuberculosis, diagnosis plays a major role more so the rapidity in diagnosis. Many patients can be lost to follow up if the time taken for diagnosis is delayed. With available tests and advancements in diagnosis, tuberculosis treatment can be started at the earliest with judicious use of diagnostic tests.