Evaluation of various techniques among clinically suspected patients of pulmonary tuberculosis with and without the presence of HIV infection

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem in India and globally. The present study was conducted to evaluate the different diagnostic techniques in suspected cases of pulmonary tuberculosis with or without the presence of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection. A total of 75 clinically suspected fresh cases of pulmonary TB were asked for sputum samples for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) staining and culture on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) media according to Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program guidelines. A commercially available rapid test kit was also used for detection of TB antigen in sputum sample. One 5 mL blood sample each was taken for HIV testing according to National Aids Control Organisation guidelines. A total of 9 (12%) patients out of 75, were found to be HIV-positive. Among the HIV co-infected patients, there was only one patient who was both smear and culture positive rest were negative. On the other hand, among the 66 HIV-negative TB patients, 25 (37.88%) were positive on both smear and culture. None of the smear negative and culture negative samples was found to be positive for the presence of TB antigen. The overall antigen positivity rate in the entire study was 16% (12/75). The current study concluded that LJ media is highly efficient medium for recovery and diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.