Abstract

 

A comparison of the results of bacteriological examination of a sputum collection and a pair of laryngeal swab specimens in patients receiving chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Velu, S.; Narayanana, A.S.L.; Subbaiah, T.V.

Indian Journal of Tuberculosis; 1961; 8; 128-138 and Tubercle; 1962; 43; 1-10 .

         

The accurate evaluation of the progress of patients undergoing treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis is of prime importance. The most valuable assessment of a treatment is its effect on the bacterial population of the sputum. A reduction in the number of organisms being excreted, or their complete elimination, is the best evidence that the patient is responding to treatment, and bacteriological negativity is the crucial desideratum of the quiescence of the disease (American Trudeau Society, 1959; Devatta et al., 1961). In a previous report from this Centre (Andrews and Radhakrishna, 1959), a comparison was made of the results of smear and culture examinations of specimens of sputum obtained in 2 different ways from patients receiving chemotherapy. It was found that "spot" specimen, that is, specimens produced in the Centre within the course of a few minutes were less frequently positive than "collection" specimens, that is, specimens produced overnight in the home.

          During treatment and usually within a few months of the start of effective chemotherapy, the majority of patients find it difficult to expectorate and it, therefore, becomes of interest to study the relative usefulness of collection specimens of sputum and laryngeal swabs in detecting the presence of tubercle bacilli. This report presents the results of a comparison of an overnight collection specimen of sputum (referred to as sputum specimen in the rest of the report) with a pair of laryngeal swabs (considered as a single specimen in the laboratory) taken from patients during the third to twelfth month of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy.

 

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