The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone in some way but people with prior maladies or those who developed some amidst this pandemic have had to endure the most of it. A reduced focus on the incidence, prevalence, and spread of TB has drastically the screening of TB.
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The TB prevalence survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council, Human Sciences Research Council, and National Institute for Communicable Diseases on behalf of the Department of Health of South Africa has given a disturbing result that there are a higher number of people with TB in South Africa than previously estimated. More people need to be diagnosed, which can be done by testing more people who are at a higher risk of contracting TB. This is effective but expensive as well in the traditional manner. That is why the South African National Department of Health has joined hands with Qure.ai and LTE Medical Solutions to leverage innovative technology and screen TB in high-risk communities aiding in early diagnosis of the disease.
LTE Medical Solutions provided an integrated TB screening and diagnosis solution including mobile medical clinics, imaging equipment, Qure qXR AI and Healthcare Framework TB software. Qure's qXR AI software can detect signs of TB in less than 1 minute and patients with a high TB score can then be directed to undergo confirmatory tests.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 induced lockdown in South Africa, testing rates for TB have dropped by up to 50% and technologies such as qXR CAD AI can significantly improve TB screening in community and primary healthcare settings which can aid in reducing the workload of the healthcare workforce amidst this pandemic.
