Table 3 Cost analysis of each strategy (individual vs. pooled) by country, by assay (MTB/RIF vs. Ultra) using a fixed amount of 1,000 cartridges
Assay | Country | Testing Strategy | Number of individuals tested | Potential missed among TB cases | Bacteriologically confirmed cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Xpert MTB/RIF | Lao PDR | Individual | N = 1,000 | Reference | 121 |
Pooling | N = 1,620 (62% increase) | 5.1%, n = 10/197 | 187 (54% increase) | ||
Nigeria | Individual | N = 1,000 | Reference | 144 | |
Pooling | N = 1,440 (44% increase) | 5.8%, n = 13/223 | 210 (45.3% increase) | ||
Xpert ULTRA | Lao PDR | Individual | N = 1000 | Reference | 111 |
Pooling | N = 1,715 (71.5% increase) | - | 191 (71.5% increase) | ||
Nigeria | Individual | N = 1,000 | Reference | 120 | |
Pooling | N = 1,858 (85.8% increase) | 9.6%, n = 27/280 | 253 (110.7% increase) | ||
Brazil | Individual | N = 1,000 | Reference | 240 | |
Pooling | N = 1,142 (14.2% increase) | 3.3%, n = 9/275 | 265 (10.4% increase) |