Background: Microscopic smear examination is the most common test in tuberculosis (TB) detection. It is, however, not strong enough to identify TB in the majority of afflicted individuals; thus, a significant number of TB patients are smear negative and capable of transmitting the infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of smear-negative TB in northwest Iran.Methods: In this c...

background: chest x-ray has an important role in the diagnosis of tuberculosis (tb). the aim of this study was to determine the radiological changes in patients with smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis.methods: in this study, 325 patients with smear positive pulmonary tb was enrolled. the affected lobe or lobes of the left or right lung were recorded. the types of involvement were categorized...

background epidemiological information on tuberculosis (tb) is required to plan control and prevention strategies and to inform service delivery systems. the aim of present study was to determine the epidemiological status of tb in hamadan province covering a seven-year period.   methods in this cross-sectional study all registered tb patients suffering from any form of smear-positive, smear-ne...

background: determining the temporal variation and forecasting the incidence of smear positive tuberculosis (tb) can play an important role in promoting the tb control program. its results may be used as a decision-supportive tool for planning and allocating resources. the present study forecasts the incidence of smear positive tb in iran. methods: this a longitudinal study using monthly tuberc...

BACKGROUND Sputum smear microscopy is commonly used for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB). Although patients with sputum smear-negative TB are less infectious than patients with smear-positive TB, they also contribute to TB transmission. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of TB transmission events caused by patients with smear-negative pulmonary TB in The Netherlands. METH...

Background Epidemiological information on tuberculosis (TB) is required to plan control and prevention strategies and to inform service delivery systems. The aim of present study was to determine the epidemiological status of TB in Hamadan Province covering a seven-year period.   Methods In this cross-sectional study all registered TB patients suffering from any form of smear-positive, smear-ne...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the validity of the fixed mathematical relationship between the annual risk of tuberculous infection (ARTI), the prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) and the incidence of smear-positive TB specified as the Styblo rule, which TB control programmes use to estimate the incidence of TB disease at a population level and the case detection rate. METHODS Population-ba...

BACKGROUND In 2007 WHO issued a guideline to improve the diagnosis of smear-negative and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in HIV-positive patients. This guideline relies heavily on the acceptance of HIV-testing and availability of chest X-rays. METHODS AND FINDINGS Cohort study of TB suspects in four tuberculosis (TB) clinics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We assessed the operational performance ...