ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995             TAG: 9512190074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-2  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press| WASHINGTON

FASTER TB TEST APPROVED

A new test promises to tell Americans within hours, instead of days, if they have tuberculosis.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Gen-Probe Inc.'s new spit test for tuberculosis, called the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct Test.

About 10 million Americans are infected with TB and about 10 percent will develop an active case of the disease, where they become ill and spread the germ by coughing or sneezing. Antibiotics can cure TB if they are taken daily for months, but an incomplete course of treatment can produce drug-resistant bacteria.

Now, doctors diagnose TB through an intensive laboratory test that takes about a week, and sometimes more, to get results. Typically, doctors don't prescribe antibiotics until they see those test results.

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