RESEARCH ARTICLE M i c

commercial assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), Xpert MTB/RIF (Cepheid, reaching 5.3 % in 2011; MDR-TB rate is at around 2 % [3]. Second, the price per shot is high compared to other Hofmann-Thiel and Hoffmann BMC Infectious Diseases 2014, 14:59 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/14/59Gene-Probe, USA). Most of them are able to detectsynlab MVZ Gauting, IML red, WHO Supranational Reference Laboratory of Tuberculosis, Robert-Koch-Allee 2, 82131 Gauting, GermanyUSA) is securing the pole position particularly in low- and middle income countries with high burden of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Due to the fully integrated cart-ridge design, the simple and safe workflow, and the ability to simultaneously detect MTBC and rifampicin (RMP) resistance, Xpert MTB/RIF allows rapid TB diagnosis and drug resistance testing also at the peripheral health clinic commercial assays. Finally, TB NAATs are often processed in large batches in which Xpert MTB/RIF would not offer significant time savings. Therefore, semi-automated assays designed for larger series are more attractive for many mycobacteriology laboratories in low-prevalence settings. Widely used semi-automated assays are, for example