Application of targeted next generation sequencing technology in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and first line drugs resistance directly from cell-free DNA of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that continues a significant threat to global public health threats, and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that in 2021, TB caused the deaths of 1.6 million people globally, with an estimated 191,000 (range 119,000–264,000) deaths occurred due to multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB).1 A recent paper by Priti Kambli and colleagues highlights that C-reactive protein has good diagnostic accuracy for pulmonary TB among symptomatic adults.