Simple tuberculosis (TB) treatment monitoring tools are needed. We assessed the performance of fluorescein-diacetate (FDA) smear microscopy for detection of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum specimens (n = 288) of TB cases under treatment compared to culture (17.4% culture positivity). FDA sensitivity was moderate (83.7% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 70.3 to 92.6]), and specificity w...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) case detection rate remains low in Ethiopia. One of the underlying reasons is the emphasis on passive case finding strategy which may seriously underestimate the burden of the disease. Estimating the prevalence of smear-positive pulmonary TB through active case finding at population level can help assessing the degree to which passive case detection is successful. ...

BACKGROUND Tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN) diagnosis has been a true challenge solely by clinical evidence in developing countries, due to limited the diagnostic facility on hand. However, the availability and affordability of available diagnostic tools in resource-limited settings like Ethiopia necessitates the quest for other techniques with added value over direct Z-N microscopy. Therefore,...

Purpose Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) requires long-term treatment, has a high fatality rate, and constitutes a global threat. Earlier detection of treatment failure is required to predict therapeutic efficacy. Patients and methods We enrolled MDR-TB patients consecutively from January 2011 through December 2012 in Lianyungang, China. Sputum smear microscopy tests and sputum cultu...

Introduction Tajikistan has a laboratory network with three levels of tuberculosis (TB) laboratories. The external quality assessment (EQA) of sputum smear microscopy was implemented in 2007. The objective of this study was to evaluate the EQA system and identify potential performance improvement strategies in TB microscopic laboratories in Sughd, Tajikistan. Methods This is a cross-sectional...

Aim: In this study, the phenomenon of oral exfoliative cytology is explored and buccal squamous cells are examined for intracytoplasmic, Prussian blue stained, iron containing granules. addition, these subjected to morphometric measurements their nuclear cytoplasmic diameter along with ratios. Methods: It was a Descriptive, Cross sectional study including 120patients Thalassemia Major, ranging ...

IntRoductIon Leprosy caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), is a chronic granulomatous disease affecting the skin and peripheral nervous system, which is transmitted through direct contact with nontreated or inadequate treatment patients.[1] Diagnosis of leprosy depends on the clinical signs and symptoms and slit skin smear positivity. However, it’s sometimes similar with other granulomato...