SPK created to change the way we identify TB in children

42 Technology, FIND, and Rutgers University collaborated to create a stool sample processing kit to comply with the World Health Organization’s new regulation which aims to enhance TB detection in children.

Last year there were approximately 10 million cases of TB globally, with over 1 million of these being identified in children. Tuberculosis can be both prevented and cured; however, this process becomes harder when it is identified in children.

The new sample processing kit (SPK) was created to see if stool samples and an automated PCR test may be a feasible alternative to current methods including smear microscopy and culture tests.

Head of healthcare technology at 42 Technology, Sarah Knight, said: “42T, Rutgers and FIND have successfully partnered to develop a simple, low-cost sample preparation kit, based on a design and process methodology first proposed by David Alland, director of the Public Health Research Institute at Rutgers University. Large-scale trials have shown the kit to be both effective and easy to use. We’re pleased that it has helped to inform the WHO in making its ground-breaking policy update on diagnosing childhood TB.”

Head of TB at FIND, Morten Ruhwald, explained that “Diagnosing paediatric TB is a major challenge requiring fresh thinking because traditional samples for TB testing just aren’t accessible from young children. A stool is so easy to collect from anyone – so being able to use that to test for TB is a major step forward.”

The simple SPK was created to analyse samples of faeces without lab equipment or technical knowledge. It is designed to function in tandem with the Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra test. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States contributed to financing the product development.