OBJECTIVE To assess the point prevalence of intestinal parasites and their association with nutritional parameters. SETTING Anganwadi centers under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in Lucknow, North India. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. METHODS By random draw, 32 out of 153 Anganwadi centers were selected. All eligible subjects registered with the Anganwadi worker were enrol...

Pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis commonly relies on the bacteriological examination of sputum. A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out to compare on "on the spot" sputum staining using sodium hypochlorite (bleach method) and routine Ziel-Neelsen (ZN) staining technique. Study candidates included individual patients presenting with cough <3 weeks (Group I) and > or =3 weeks (Group...

in the endemic focus of kala-azar, in meshkin shahr area, dog dirofilariasls is a metazoan infestation with high endemicity. this study was carried out to indicate prevalence of dirofilariasis in dogs in that district. by using cluster sampling method, from 6000 dogs, 300 dogs were selected by cluster sampling and samples were examined for the presence of microfilaria. we examined tick smear la...

Though pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains the most common presentation, extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EXTB) is another significant clinical problem and due to paucibacillary nature, remains a challenge for diagnosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of smear microscopy and culture for detection of Mycobacteria in pulmonary and extra pulmonary specimens. This retrospective stud...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to compare the usefulness of nasal smear eosinophilia with skin prick test for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and to determine the degree of correlation between the tests. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty-one patients (16 males, 25 females; mean age 35.17; range 14 to 56 years) with a clinical history suggestive of nasal allergy and fifteen controls (7 males...

Ehrlichiosis is a zoonotic disease that is caused by bacteria of the genus Ehrlichia. The aims of this study were to detect the presence of Ehrlichia spp. in the blood of dogs in Ituberá, Bahia, and to compare the sensitivities and specificities of blood smear, serological, and molecular examinations. Furthermore, this study identified factors associated with exposure to the agent in dogs in th...

Previously we reported the development of a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay specific for anti-tuberculous glycolipid (anti-TBGL) for the rapid serodiagnosis of tuberculosis. In this study, the usefulness of an anti-TBGL antibody assay kit for rapid serodiagnosis was evaluated in a controlled multicenter study. Antibody titers in sera from 318 patients with active pulmonary tu...

Pulmonary tuberculosis in AIDS/ARC patients is an increasing problem. To assess the utility of acid-fast smears of pulmonary secretions in this patient population, we evaluated 38 AIDS/ARC patients with culture-positive pulmonary infection. A control group consisted of 57 non-AIDS/ARC patients, who also did not belong to an AIDS risk group, diagnosed during the same period. The number of cultur...

INTRODUCTION High quality sputum helps increase the sensitivity of the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficiency of the acoustic device (Lung Flute; LF) in sputum induction compared with the conventional method, hypertonic saline inhalation (HSI). METHODS In this crossover study, patients with presumed pulmonary tuberculosis submitted 3 consecutive sputa: th...