Role of CBNAAT for Early Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Percentage of Rifampicin Resistance among the Patients Admitted in Government General Hospital, Siddipet

India is the highest tuberculosis (TB) burden country in the world. The global incidence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is 630, 000 cases. India constitutes one tenth of the global burden with 64, 000 cases, presently. Though the conventional drug susceptibility testing (DST) is con standard for the detection of drug-resistant TB, it is time-consuming taking about 6–8 weeks. Hence, there is need of introduction of rapid diagnostic tools to detect MDR-TB. Cartridge-based nucleic1. Aims and objective of the study: To assess diagnostic usefulness of Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay technique in comparision with routine smear microscopy, so that early detection is essential to reduce the death rate and interrupt transmission and detection of percentage of rifampicin resistance among the positive samples, it helps to avoid injudicious use of anti tubercular drugs. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in the department of Microbiology, Government General hospital, Siddipet, between january 2018 to december 2018. Early morning sputum sample was collected from the patients in a clean sterile container. Results: Among the total 2129 samples, 474 were detected tuberculosis positive by CBNAAT method and 1568 were negative. And among 474 positive cases, 439 were Rifampicin sensitive and 35 were Rifampicin resistant. Conclusion: CBNAAT detects pulmonary TB with greater efficacy than sputum microscopy also helping in early diagnosis in less than 2 hours. It also detects rifampicin resistance with high specificity and can be used for screening for MDR-TB so that early therapy can be started thus decreasing the incidence of MDR-TB. WHO recommends CBNAAT for early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis and detection of rifampicin resistance and retreatment cases, who are at risk of MDR-TB.