title: The validity of three sputum smears taken in one day for discontinuing isolation of tuberculosis patients.
abstract: We conducted a retrospective comparative study of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear sensitivity according to time of specimen collection to assess whether three consecutive AFB smears collected in 1 day are useful when deciding to discontinue respiratory isolation of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). A total of 236 sputum specimens from 119 patients with pulmonary TB were used for the analysis. There was no statistical difference in AFB smear sensitivity of early-morning sputum and those collected later (P = 0.186). This may allow us to collect all specimens in a single day and discontinue respiratory isolation of TB patients earlier.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010356:Patient Isolation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*