Could a step in the isolation of mycobacteria from sputum samples be eliminated by new decontamination kits?

The efficacy of two mycobacterial homogenization, decontamination and concentration kits, Mycoprosafe and Decomics, were compared. A total of 146 sputum samples were examined in this study; 46 (31.5%) mycobacterial isolates were recovered with Mycoprosafe, while 39 (26.7%) mycobacterial isolates were recovered with Decomics. These results, although very preliminary, indicate that Mycoprosafe and Decomics are similar in terms of ease of use and price. However, Decomics offers several advantages, including the need for less equipment, a more rapid detection time, and an easy shipping process; thus, pre-processing can be done anywhere.