Rapid Slide Culture Technique for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and Predictors of Poor Outcomes among Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB), a dreadful disease known to mankind continues to be a problem in a developing country like
India. The incidence of people getting infected with TB is on the rise due to compounding factors like coinfection
with the human immunodefiency virus and multidrug-resistant strains. There is a definitive need for early
diagnosis and treatment of TB to curb transmission of the infection. Direct smear microscopy, though cheap and
rapid, lacks sensitivity. Isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in culture requires a long time, because of which
there is a need for a rapid method which has good sensitivity and specificity for the detection of M. tuberculosis.
Hence the present study was undertaken to determine Performance of rapid slide culture method for confirming
pulmonary tuberculosis in clinically suspected and smear positive cases and also to assess the factors responsible
for poor outcomes in the study population.