Mastering the basics of TB control : development of a handbook on TB diagnostic methods

Tuberculosis (TB) remains to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. To improve both the prognosis of TB patients and TB disease surveillance, care of patients with TB should always start with a quality assured laboratory diagnosis. In 2007, a survey on current mycobacterial laboratory services indicated that a European laboratory network on TB would add value for Europe. As a result of this survey, the European Reference Laboratory Network for Tuberculosis (ERLN-TB) was launched in January 2010. One of the main goals of this network is to support the harmonisation of methods in the EU/EEA. A key deliverable of 2010 was the 'Handbook of TB diagnostic methods', which is presented here. The handbook consists of nine chapters describing the most relevant and reliable laboratory diagnostic methods. It covers biosafety, quality assurance, latent TB infection, smear microscopy, identification of M. tuberculosis and drug resistance, culture, drug susceptibility testing, molecular methods, and information related to the diagnosis of TB for physicians. This first edition is intended to contribute to the harmonisation of methods for TB diagnosis and therefore also covers issues of comparability of TB diagnosis within the EU/EEA. ECDC will continue to work with the ERLN-TB to evaluate the impact of this collaborative technical report and make further provisions for the development of the document. The experience gained from writing this technical report on diagnostic methods could be applied to other European reference laboratory networks, which would certainly benefit from the developed body of knowledge. There are also several tools available that would support interaction and collaboration between reference laboratories and laboratory experts, particularly in respect to improving the implementation of diagnostic techniques and further training/capacity building. This is exactly where ECDC's added value lies, as outlined in the ECDC founding regulation : to prevent and control communicable diseases in Europe by, among other measures, fostering the collaboration between experts and reference laboratories.