hello doctor, i am recently diagnosed and i am from a developing country and the disease which terrifies me is TB. here TB is MDR and XDR with a high mortality rate and we are always exposed to that. i dont have any idea about newest diagnostic procedure for TB detection other than sputum AFB,chest x ray or mantoux. also mantoux result is very confusing for positive people. is there any rapid test for TB in the market? is there any new medicine for MDR/XDR TB other than DOTS or DOTS+ regimen? really feeling afraid about TB because I often come in contact with TB patients in a localized area through which i have to pass inevitably due to some unavoidable professional circumstances. and TB can get activated at any CD4 count. so dying of fear. please help and suggest me how can i avoid and diagnose TB (if infected)at a very early stage doing regular TB tests based on newer techniques. last question: if TB is detected early, then chance of recovery is better than if diagnosed late (Susceptible/MDR/XDR)? thank u.

Yes, in certain places where the amount of TB infections is high, it may be unavoidable. although you don't indicate what your CD4 count is, or whether you are on HIV treatment, being on HIV treatment and having your immune system stabilized is probably one of the most important things you can do. In some places, newer blood tests are available, which can better diagnose whether someone has been exposed to TB compared to skin tests, which are not as accurate in HIV infected people. Yes, always better to detect early and treat, then when infection is active or disseminated.