TITLE:
Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Suspected Sudanese Patients in Wad Madani Tuberculosis Center
AUTHORS:
Zeinab Hamid Elfaham, Elamin M. Ibrahim, Elhadi A. Ahmed, Abdelrhman E. Mohammed, Bakri Y. M. Nour
KEYWORDS:
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, ZN Stain, Centrifugation, Sudan
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
19,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Tuberculosis is a health problem in Sudan and may become a greater
challenge in the future due to the weakness in infection prevention measures,
increase in cases of drug-resistant and the difficulty of diagnosis. Objective: The aim of this study was to detect Mycobacterium
tuberculosis (MTB) from sputum of clinically suspected patients using the
three available techniques. Methods: Three hundred participants
referred to Wad Madani Tuberculosis Center during 2017-2019 were included.
Early morning fresh sputum samples were subjected to Mycobacterium
tuberculosis examination by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain without
concentration, ZN stain with centrifugation and geneXpert assay. Results: Of
the 300 suspected cases; Mycobacterium tuberculosis detected in 17%
(51/300) by ZN stain without concentration, 20% (59/300) by ZN stain
with centrifugation and 34% (103/300) by geneXpert. The two techniques of ZN
stains possessed 100% specificity and relative differences in sensitivity when
compared to geneXpert assay. The significant association observed between ZN
stains and geneXpert results indicated validity of ZN techniques for detection. Conclusions: The study confirmed that geneXpert is better for
identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis when compared to ZN
techniques which are also important for diagnosis in poor places and where the
geneXpert assay is not available.