BACKGROUND Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive sputum is usually an initial clue in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB); however, the test is not disease-specific. Nontuberculous mycobacterium-related colonization or lung disease often has AFB smear-positive sputum results, and physicians may prescribe unnecessary antituberculous drugs for these patients. The aim of this study was t...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) causes 1.45 million deaths annually world wide, the majority of which occur in the developing world. Active TB disease represents immune failure to control latent infection from airborne spread. Acid-fast bacillus (AFB) seen on sputum smear is a biomarker for contagiousness. METHODS We enrolled 73 tuberculosis patients with extensive infiltrates into a research st...

OBJECTIVE To assess the increased diagnostic yield for pulmonary tuberculosis using bronchial washing cultures compared with sputum cultures. METHODS Study conducted with 61 adults in Lima, Peru, from January 2006 to December 2007. The yield of sputum cultures was compared with the yield of acid-fast bacilli smears and cultures of bronchial washing for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis in sus...

In HIV-uninfected adults with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), anti-TB treatment is associated with changes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific immune responses, which correlate with sputum bacillary load. It is unclear if this occurs in HIV-infected TB patients. We investigated changes in Mtb-specific immune responses and sputum bacillary clearance during anti-TB treatment in HIV-infected...

Abstract Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) is difficult to diagnose due fewer organisms sputum and extrapulmonary samples. Sputum culture takes 4 8 weeks for growth of the mycobacteria. Delayed treatment TB PLHIV leads increased mortality. This study evaluated cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) as a diagnostic tool di...

ObjectiveTo evaluate he diagnostic performance of the Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Rifampin (MTB/RIF) assay in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF).MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed clinical data from 671 sputum-smear negative or sputum-scarce adult patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) who had an MTB/RIF performed on BALF. The assay, smear microscopy (SM) and MTB culture was...

Microbiologic confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis among patients whose sputum smear is negative is increasingly important because of greater incidence among immunocompromised hosts and emergence of drug-resistant strains. We prospectively compared sputum induction to fiber-optic bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of such patients. Consecutive patients referred for investigation of possible active...

BACKGROUND In the United States, individuals with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis are placed in airborne infection isolation (AII) and assessed by smear microscopy on 3 respiratory specimens collected 8-24 hours apart. Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Xpert) on 1, 2, or 3 specimens may be more efficient for determining AII discontinuation. METHODS This single-center, observational cohort study of inpa...

There is growing evidence that tobacco smoking is an important risk factor for tuberculosis (TB). India, with a population of 1.26 billion, has the highest number of both TB patients and smokers. The convergence of these two important health hazards is likely severely affecting India's TB control programs. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of smoking in newly diagnosed pulm...

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious causes of death worldwide. Ziehl-Neelsen staining of sputum has high specificity in tuberculosis endemic countries, but modest sensitivity which varies among laboratories. This study was set up to investigate the diagnostic value of serum Adenosine deaminase in diagnosis of tuberculosis. METHODS In a cross sectional and prospec...