Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of TB diagnostic strategies in HIV-positive patients in Lusaka, Zambia

摘要

Background: Zambia is a high burden country for both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) infection and HIV clinic enrollees are a high-risk group for active TB. The advent of low-cost rapid-diagnostic technologies for TB, such as the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay and microscopic-observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) culture, suggest an affordable and promising diagnostic method to quickly identify and treat cases, but the cost-effectiveness of these tests are not well-established in high burden areas with a high prevalence of HIV.