Background: Even though commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have become the most frequently used molecular tests for laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), published studies report variable estimates of their diagnostic accuracy. We analysed the accuracy of commercial NAATs for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in smear positive and smear negative respiratory samples u...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological information on tuberculosis (TB) is required to plan control and prevention strategies and to inform service delivery systems. The aim of present study was to determine the epidemiological status of TB in Hamadan Province covering a seven-year period. METHODS In this cross-sectional study all registered TB patients suffering from any form of smear-positive, smear-ne...

Background There are few quantitative documents about the seasonal incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among immigrant populations. Concerning the significant role of recognizing seasonal changes of TB in improving the TB control program, this study determines the trend and seasonal temporal changes of TB among immigrants entering Iran.   Methods In this longitudinal study, data from the Iranian TB ...

BACKGROUND Rapid detection of tuberculosis (TB) among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a global health priority. HIV-associated TB may have different clinical presentations and is challenging to diagnose. Conventional sputum tests have reduced sensitivity in HIV-positive individuals, who have higher rates of extrapulmonary TB compared with HIV-negative individuals. The l...

BACKGROUND Even though commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have become the most frequently used molecular tests for laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), published studies report variable estimates of their diagnostic accuracy. We analysed the accuracy of commercial NAATs for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in smear positive and smear negative respiratory samples us...

Background This paper aims to explore the application value of tuberculosis-specific enzyme-linked immunospot assay (T-SPOT.TB) in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Methods Fifty one patients with tuberculosis (TB) admitted to Wuxi No.5 People's Hospital, Wuxi, China from June 2015 to June 2017 were selected as the TB group, and 40 patients without tuberculosis admitted in the same period were r...

Intradermal tuberculin test (TST) is the choice method for diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis (Tb) in live animals. This work was done to assess the performance of single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test in randomly selected cattle in Maroua, Cameroon, against detection of Tb lesions and detection of Tb lesions plus acid fast bacilli in lesions. While 22.28% of slaughtered...

BACKGROUND Interferon gamma release assays, including the QuantiFERON TB Gold In Tube (QFT) have been shown to be accurate in diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. These assays however, do not discriminate between latent TB infection (LTBI) and active TB disease. METHODS We recruited twenty-three pulmonary TB patients and 34 household contacts from Cape Town, South Africa and perfo...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of mortality in high HIV-prevalence populations. HIV is driving the TB epidemic in many countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to assess predictors of mortality among TB-HIV co-infected patients being treated for TB in Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS An institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducte...

OBJECTIVES To describe the early symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) when the chest radiograph (CXR) is normal. SETTING Centralized, provincial TB control program. SUBJECTS Twenty-five patients with culture-positive pulmonary TB and a normal CXR were identified from a review of 518 consecutive patients with culture-positive pulmonary TB in the province of Saskatchewan from January 1, 19...