Time to positivity in liquid culture predicts colony forming unit counts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum specimens.
Time to liquid culture positivity (TTP) is a technically accessible and widely available measure of viable mycobacterial load in sputum samples. We describe the ability of TTP to predict colony forming unit counts of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum samples collected before or during the first 14 days of antituberculosis therapy.
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; Task Applied Science, Karl Bremer Hospital, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: ahd@sun.ac.za.
Andreas H
AH
Diacon
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Statistics, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.
Lize
L
van der Merwe
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Anne-Marie
AM
Demers
Task Applied Science, Karl Bremer Hospital, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa.
Florian
F
von Groote-Bidlingmaier
MRC Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Amour
A
Venter
Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Peter R
PR
Donald
D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*
D000995:Antitubercular Agents
Drug evaluation; Early bactericidal activity; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis treatment