title: Evaluation of a two step AFB cold staining method and simplified concentration technique for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: Ziehl Neelsen (Z-N) stain is the commonly used procedure for demonstration for AFB. A Simple cold stain technique and Simplified concentration technique were compared with the conventional methods on 1484 sputum samples over a period of 3 months. A positivity rate of 9.3% was observed on direct microscopy with an increase in the yield by 30% after concentration. It was observed that the simple cold staining and simplified concentration are viable alternatives for demonstration of mycobacteria in busy clinical laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi-110 001.
authors.forename: Abhilasha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kochhar
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*