Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), especially Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC), has been considered responsible for human disease, especially in HIV patients. Nevertheless, it has been diagnosed in immunocompetent elderly men, frequently with previous pulmonary disease: chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), complications of tuberculosis, pulmonary fibrosis and bronchiectasis....

BACKGROUND Serologic methods for diagnosis of tuberculosis have been widely investigated owing to their low cost and rapid technical execution. Sensitivity and specificity of different tests have been reported to be largely variable. STUDY OBJECTIVES To evaluate the IgA-mediated humoral immune response against the mycobacterial antigen P-90 as a tool for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. ...

We present a young immunocompetent male with diagnosed sputum culture-positive tuberculosis on intensive phase with observed daily four-drug antituberculosis therapy. He presented at 1-month of treatment with sequential bilateral pneumothoraces, increase in cavitation and consolidation and respiratory failure. Repeat smears for acid-fast bacilli had downgraded, and cultures were negative. Quant...

Sputum microscopy is the most important tool for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in peripheral laboratories. Sodium hypochlorite concentration technique prior to sputum may improve AFB bacilli over direct Ziehl Neelsen’s staining method. A prospective study was conducted at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. Consecutive samples were collected 3 months. ZN stained smears made directly fr...

objective: trichomonas species usually reside in the mouth and occasionally in the respiratory tract. these species can be found in the lungs of humans. although the pathogenicity of the parasite in the respiratory system has not been proven, it is more prevalent in people who lack good oral health or suffer from asthma or chronic pulmonary diseases. in the present descriptive study, we have id...

Tubercle bacilli, which survived heat fixation, were detected with a slide culture technique which allowed the entire smear to be examined. Both conventional flame fixation and the use of a controlled hot-plate failed to render tuberculous sputum smears safe for further handling. Smears which were stained with the phenol-auramine method failed to yield growth on culture. If delay between prepa...

INTRODUCTION The existing diagnostic algorithms for sputum smear-negative tuberculosis (TB) are complicated, time-consuming, and often difficult to implement. The decision to initiate TB treatment in resource-limited countries is often largely based on clinical predictors. We sought to determine the clinical predictors and accuracy of empiric TB treatment initiation in HIV-infected sputum smear...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sensitivity of induced versus expectorated sputum for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by acid-fast smear. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of data on patients with cultures from respiratory secretions that were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We analyzed data on the 114 patients with positive cultures during a 4-year period in an urban ter...

Sputum smears for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) are the primary methods for diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in many countries. The tuberculin skin test (TST) is the primary method for diagnosis of latent TB infection (LTBI) worldwide. The poor sensitivity of the former and the poor specificity of the latter warrant the development of new tests and strategies to enhance diagnostic capabilities. We eval...

conclusion fm is more sensitive than zn for diagnosis of tb. however, since fm is more sensitive and rapid, using this method in clinical laboratories with large specimen numbers is recommended. results a total of 102 out of 920 study subjects had pulmonary tb, of them 68 (66.66%) patients were smear positive by either staining method while others were smear negative. the proportion of positive...