Sputum smear microscopy is widely used for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment monitoring. We evaluated the correlation between smear microscopy and time to liquid culture positivity during early tuberculosis treatment. The study included patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis hospitalized at a tuberculosis reference centre in Germany between 01/2012 and 05/2013. Patient records w...

Objective. To evaluate risk factors which influence sputum smear conversion, outcome, and trends of conversion of sputum smear during 5 years and compare outcomes in patients with different regimens. Methods. In a retrospective cohort study, all patients with sputum smear positive tuberculosis were evaluated for comorbidities and demographic, microbiological, and therapeutic data and outcome. S...

INTRODUCTION Smear positive TB carries high morbidity and mortality. The TB treatment aims at sputum conversion by two months of antituberculous. Patients who delay sputum conversion remain potentially infectious, with risk of treatment failure, drug resistance, and mortality. Little is known about the magnitude of this problem in our setting. This study was designed to determine the prevalence...

BACKGROUND A sputum culture is the most reliable indicator of the infectiousness of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB); however, a spontaneous sputum specimen may not be suitable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the infectious period in patients with non-drug-resistant (DR) PTB receiving adequate standard chemotherapy, using induced sputum (IS) specimens. METHODS We evaluated the duration of ...

BACKGROUND Diabetes complicates tuberculosis (TB) treatment including a prolonged time of sputum culture conversion to negative growth. Since 2013 in Virginia, interventions early in the treatment course have used therapeutic drug monitoring and dose correction for isoniazid and rifampin after 2 weeks of TB treatment in patients with diabetes along with nurse manager initiated diabetes educatio...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major global health problem. While progress has been made to improve TB cure rates, South Africa's 76 % smear-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) case cure rate remains below the WHO target of 85 %. We report on the trends of TB smear non-conversion and their predictors at the end of an intensive phase of treatment, and how this impacted on treatment outco...

BACKGROUND We investigated the determinants of sputum culture non-conversion following intensive phase of treatment, and assessed the effects on the outcome among patients treated for a first episode of smear positive tuberculosis (TB). METHODS This was a prospective cohort study spanning October 2009 to May 2012, among patients treated for a first episode of smear positive pulmonary tubercul...

BACKGROUND Monitoring treatment response to anti-tuberculous therapy remains unsatisfactory in resource-limited countries where sophisticated and expensive tests are not readily available. Sputum culture for mycobacterium is desirable, but not obtainable in many developing countries. Sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear alone can be misinterpreted in the presence of unviable bacilli or non-tube...

BACKGROUND Acceleration in sputum smear conversion helps faster improvement and decreased probability of the transfer of TB. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of green tea extract supplementation on sputum smear conversion and weight changes in smear positive pulmonary TB patients in Iran. METHODS In this double blind clinical study, TB patients were divided into intervention,...