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...

background: there is growing evidence that diabetes mellitus (dm) is an important risk factor for tuberculosis (tb). a significant number of dm patients have poor glycemic control. this study was carried out to find the impact of poor glycemic control on newly diagnosed smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus in a tertiary care hospital. methods: in a hospit...

BACKGROUND Culture and specific staining (including Zeil-Nelson and fluorescent methods) are standard measures for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). These methods are time-consuming and sometimes have a low level of accuracy. In addition, in some cases obtaining samples for smear and culture involves invasive procedures; while in other cases there is no suitable sample for evaluation. Therefo...

A 37-year-old white man presented with a productive cough, anorexia, weight loss, and night sweats of 4 months’ duration. He also complained of back pain with stiffness. The back pain was worse at night. He was treated for pneumonia 3 years ago and had a 20 pack-year history of smoking. He was a thin man in no distress. His vital signs were stable and temperature was 38.6°C (101.6°F). Bilateral...

OBJECTIVE To assess the diagnostic value of provider-initiated symptom screening for tuberculosis (TB) and how HIV status affects it. METHODS We performed a secondary analysis of randomly selected participants in a community-based TB-HIV prevalence survey in Harare, Zimbabwe. All completed a five-symptom questionnaire and underwent sputum TB culture and HIV testing. We calculated the sensitiv...

BACKGROUND Since 20% of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients are asymptomatic, the early detection of PTB is a challenge particularly in sputum-scarce patients and diagnostic accuracy based solely on clinical characteristics and chest X-ray/CT scans are not always satisfactory. The AmpSure simultaneous amplification and testing method for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (SAT-TB ass...

Immunocompromised patients with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-negative active pulmonary tuberculosis (pTB) often present with nonspecific clinical symptoms and findings. T-cell interferon-gamma release assays (TIGRA) performed on whole blood (using ELISA) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (using enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT)) are more sensitive for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium ...

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...

OBJECTIVE To determine the diagnostic usefulness of tuberculosis (TB) symptom screening to detect active pulmonary TB among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected pregnant women in two PMTCT (prevention of mother-to-child transmission) clinics in western Kenya that are supported by the United States Agency for International Development-Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare partners...

A 45-year-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive male from northeastern India presented with fever and cough as well as a 3-month-old ulcer over the chin. On examination, there was a 5 × 5-cm superficial ulcer with a thick adherent crust over the chin ( Figure 1 ). The individual had three papules with central umbilication over the neck and face. He had anemia (hemoglobin = 7.5 g) and ...