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 The 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) guideline to diagnose smear-negative tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-prevalent settings was mainly based on expert advice and therefore requires evaluation in real life situations. METHODS In 2009, this guideline was introduced at the ALERT hospital in Ethiopia. From October 2009 to January 2011, the accuracy of the guideline was evaluated using My...

BACKGROUND Untreated smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) patients are the primary source of infection; however, a large number of TB cases have not been identified and are untreated in many sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia. This study determined whether or not a community-based follow-up of chronic coughers improves detection of TB cases and the risk factors for death among such c...

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: one of the fundamental issues of infectious disease treatment is drug resistance. the aim of the present study was to investigate the first-line anti-tuberculosis drug resistance rates and determine the risk factors related to multidrug resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis.methods: from march 2011 to september 2012, mycobacterial strains were collected from one hundred fifteen diagn...

BACKGROUND Chest-x-ray is routinely used in the diagnosis of smear negative tuberculosis (TB). This study assesses the incremental cost per true positive test of a point-of-care digital chest-x-ray, in the diagnosis of pulmonary mycobacterial infections among HIV patients with presumed tuberculosis undetected by smear microscopy. METHODS Consecutive patients with clinical suspicion of pulmona...

Little is known about the drivers of two-month sputum smear non-conversion in the South African context. Our study sought to determine these factors in new sputum smear positive tuberculosis (TB) patients in South Africa's Free State Province. A retrospective record review was conducted for all TB patients on treatment between 2003 and 2009. Two-month sputum smear non-conversion was defined by ...

At present, further investigations are needed in patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and either negative sputum smear or without sputum. The aim of the present study was to analyse the yield of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) smear and PCR in patients with confirmed pulmonary TB. Patients with a positive culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in sputum or BALF were a...

BACKGROUND In February 2009, a high school student was diagnosed with sputum-smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). One year later, 2 other students in the same grade developed sputum-smear positive TB. METHODS We used tuberculin skin testing (TST), chest radiography, sputum smear, and symptomatology for case identification. We defined latent TB infection (LTBI) as a TST induration of 15...