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 according to several studies, diabetes mellitus has been recognized as one of the main risk factors for pulmonary tuberculosis (ptb). objectives the main purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (tb) in patients with diabetes. materials and methods this cross-sectional study was conducted from april 2010 to december 2011 in ali asg...

BACKGROUND Although checking specimen quality upon sputum collection for acid-fast smear of suspected tuberculosis (TB) cases is recommended, this procedure is based on expert opinion. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the impact of sputum gross appearance and volume on smear positivity among patients with suspected pulmonary TB, according to sex. METHODS From November 2010 through J...

BACKGROUND While smear positive patients with tuberculosis (TB) are considered more infectious than smear negative patients, the latter can also transmit TB. METHODS In a molecular epidemiology study of 791 patients in the Greater Vancouver regional district, the number of episodes of TB transmission from two groups of smear negative clustered patients by RFLP (assumed to be involved in recen...

The lack of healthcare access contributes to large numbers of tuberculosis (TB) cases being missed and has led to renewed interest in outreach approaches to increase detection. It is however unclear whether outreach activities increase case detection or merely identify patients before they attend health facilities. We compared adults with cough of >2 weeks' duration recruited in health faciliti...

SETTING Sputum samples were collected from suspected tuberculosis patients attending out-patient clinics at the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of the FASTPlaqueTB assay for rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. DESIGN A comparative study of 584 sputum samples using acid-fast smear microscopy, Lowenstein-Jensen culture and FAST...

Background: While smear positive patients with tuberculosis (TB) are considered more infectious than smear negative patients, the latter can also transmit TB. Methods: In a molecular epidemiology study of 791 patients in the Greater Vancouver regional district, the number of episodes of TB transmission from two groups of smear negative clustered patients by RFLP (assumed to be involved in recen...

SETTING A tuberculosis (TB) prevalence survey was performed in 2002 in two urban communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The population was 36,334 in 2001, and the TB notification rate was 341 per 100,000 population for new smear-positive TB in 2002. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relative contributions of symptom and chest radiographic (CXR) screening in the detection of subjects with smear- and/...

Purpose: To study the factors influencing sputum smear conversion including Serum C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and its correlation with disease severity in tuberculosis patients. Method: Levels of Serum-CRP concentrations were determined in 60 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 30 healthy volunteers and patients in follow-up after completion of antitubercular treatment (DOTS therapy). Results: S...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis is a chronic pulmonary infectious disease that has affected one-third of the people in the world. It causes nine million new cases and two million deaths per year. Chest radiography associated with Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast staining procedure significantly helps the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Chest radiography can help the diagnosis of tuberculosis in patie...