BACKGROUND Polymorphisms in the gene that encodes the vitamin D receptor (VDR) may influence the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. METHODS In a Peruvian community with a high incidence of tuberculosis (TB), VDR TaqI and FokI polymorphisms were compared among 103 patients with pulmonary TB and 206 matched healthy control subjects. Associations of VDR polymorphisms with tre...

INTRODUCTION Cow dung known since long ago for its germicidal properties, used by Indian villagers to clean the house premises. As cow dung is not available easily, nowadays people have started using synthetic yellow coloured powder (Auramine-o) available easily in grocery shops locally known as "Morechap powder" in districts of Maharashtra. As the poisoning is rare, very few literatures are av...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis remains world's leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Fluorescence microscopy offers well-described benefits, comparing with brightfield microscopy, for the evaluation sputum smear samples for tuberculosis. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of fluorescence microscopy, using novel Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology as an alternative to the conven...

Burning incense to worship deities is a popular religious ritual in large parts of Asia, and is a popular custom affecting more than 1.5 billion adherents. Due to incomplete combustion, burning incense has been well recognized to generate airborne hazards to human health. However, the correlation between burning incense and lung cancer in epidemiological studies remains controversy. Therefore, ...

BACKGROUND Fecal antigen detection using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and oocyst detection using auramine phenol (AP) staining methods, are told to be more sensitive compared to other conventional methods, for diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis. OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antigen-detection capacity in the stool specimens using ELISA and oocyst det...

SETTING Twelve primary health care clinics in the South Peninsula Administration, Cape Town, Western Cape Province, South Africa. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of FAST-PlaqueTB, a new phage-based test, for the rapid diagnosis of TB in individuals with no previous history of TB treatment presenting at primary health care clinics in Cape Town, South Africa. DESIGN A comparative study ...

Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) is the cornerstone of the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). However, the sensitivity of conventional Z-N staining for the detection of AFB in CSF specimens is suboptimal. The present study aimed to compare the practicality of modified Z-N staining with light microscopy and fluorescence micr...