Group B Symptoms: Fungal Pathogen Detection in Tuberculosis Patients in The Gambia

Zackary Salem-Bango's dataset contains results from a multiplex qPCR assay applied to 273 stored sputum samples from adult patients in The Gambia presenting with respiratory symptoms concerning for tuberculosis. The assay detected DNA from Aspergillus spp. (1.8%), Pneumocystis jirovecii (1.1%), and Histoplasma spp. (0%). The dataset was last updated on April 24, 2026.

Use Cases

• Developing diagnostic models for fungal infections based on multiplex qPCR results.
• Analyzing co-occurrence of fungal colonization with tuberculosis-like symptoms.
• Evaluating the performance of molecular assays for pathogen surveillance in stored samples.
• Studying the prevalence of WHO-priority fungal pathogens in a specific geographic region.

Strengths

• Contains results from 273 patient samples, providing a specific sample size.
• Reports precise detection rates for Aspergillus spp. (5 samples, 1.8%) and Pneumocystis jirovecii (3 samples, 1.1%).
• The multiplex assay demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity, detecting as few as ten DNA copies per reaction.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small (5.5 KB), indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

A multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was developed and validated for simultaneous detection of fungal DNA in human sputum.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-24 17:45:14; freshness should be verified.

Geography

The Gambia