The current strategy for the control of tuberculosis (TB) relies on early diagnosis, and smear microscopy is an essential component of the laboratory diagnosis of TB in most countries with a high prevalence of the disease. However, even simple smear microscopy examination is far from satisfactory because staining results can vary among individual technicians. In an effort to minimize variations...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Plasmodium falciparum cerebral malaria remains a major health problem in India. The efficacy of treatment of cerebral malaria lies in its early diagnosis through rapid diagnostic methods. ParaSights-F test detects HRP-2 antigen secreted by parasitised red blood cells and quantitative buffy coat assay (QBC) is examination of buffy coat for the presence of malarial parasit...

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential efficacy of staining with methylthioninium chloride (MC) for the diagnosis of fungal keratitis. A total of 70 cases of fungal keratitis were included in the study from January 2009 to December 2010. The corneal scraping specimens of the patients were collected and stained with MC or a 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH)-based smear prior to micro...

A repetitive sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), from sputum samples, for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The method of heating the sample in a boiling water bath to break down the bacterial cell wall and to release the DNA was compared with that of enzymatic lysis of bacteria and then phenol-chloroform extraction of DNA. Heating...

Bright field microscopy of sputum after ZN staining is the backbone of revised national tuberculosis control program (RNTCP) for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. But reduced sensitivity in overburdened RNTCP centers and HIV-TB co-infection necessitates the use of newer modalities to increase the diagnostic yield. A cross sectional prospective analytical study was done from June 2011 to Augu...

AIMS To determine the relative diagnostic sensitivity of non-isotopic in situ hybridisation (NISH) for the diagnosis of human papillomavirus (HPV) on matched smears and biopsy specimens; to compare the NISH signal type in the two samples; and to correlate the NISH data with the morphological diagnosis. METHODS HPV samples were assayed individually by NISH with digoxigenin labelled probes (HPV...

Laboratory findings A blood sample was submitted by mail to the Clinical Pathology Laboratory, University Animal Hospital, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, for a complete hematological profile. The hematology analysis was performed on an Advia 2120 hematology instrument (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Erlangen, Germany) and by evaluation of a May‐Grünwald Giemsa st...

An adult Holstein Friesian cross-bred cow was brought to Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital with the history of anorexia and fever. Peripheral blood smear stained by Leishman revealed large sized (About 60 mm) extracellular parasites. Haematological examination revealed anisocytosis and hypochromasia. Based on the morphology of the parasite which had long and pointed posterior end, sub...

Direct smears from female patients have been considered unreliable for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by fluorescent-antibody (FA) methods because of inadequate background contrast of the fluorescent-stained smears and a scarcity of organisms on the smear. Evans blue dye employed as a counterstain eliminated the nonspecific background staining and increased the reliability of the direct...

A technique is described whereby inclusion-bearing cells identified by light microscopy in stained smears of urinary sediment were reprocessed for examination in the electron microscope. The nuclei of the abnormal cells were found to contain numerous virus particles, 35 nm in diameter, which morphologically resembled papovaviruses. The technique was applied in this case to identify further the ...