Direct amplification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis deoxyribonucleic acid in paucibacillary tuberculosis

The discovery of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)as a means to generate detectable signals from as little asa single molecule of target deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)[1] has led to the development of extremely powerful andrapid diagnostic tests for a number of infectious agents.PCR was therefore expected to improve significantly thesensitivity of tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB),compared with the standard stains for acid fast bacilli(AFB) on sputum smears. Since the first report by H