Abstract :
Introduction: According to WHO one third of world population has tuberculosis. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment play an important role in combating the mortality and morbidity caused by tuberculosis. This study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of LED fluorescent microscopy and conventional Ziehl- Neelsen staining for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the microbiology department of a tertiary care hospital in northern India by examining 234 consecutive sputum smear samples using LED as well conventional microscope.
Observations: Out of 234 sputum samples 62(26.5%) sputum samples were positive for AFB with Ziehl-Nelson and 84(35.9%) sputum samples were positive for with fluorescent microscopy.
Conclusion: It was found that LED based fluorescent microscopy is a better technique to identify M. tuberculosis with less time compared to the conventional microscope.
Keyword :
Auramine O, Light emitting diode microscope, Tuberculosis, Ziehl-Neelsen staining