DETECTION OF ACID-FAST BACILLI IN SPUTUM AND SALIVA SAMPLE BY MICROSCOPY AND CULTURE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Background - Tuberculosis is a major health problem all over the world. Early detection of tuberculosis is more important for therapeutic reasons and to control the spread of the infection. Till today, only sputum has been widely used as a diagnostic medium for pulmonary tuberculosis, the use of saliva has been largely ignored in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, even though it is more easily available. The present study showed that saliva when aided with FM has simplied the difculties encountered with sputum microscopy like lack of adequate sample in patients with non-productive cough. A c Material & Method - ross-sectional & observational study was carried out 184 patients' sputum and saliva sample known cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were stained with ZN and AR staining and Culture was performed in LJ media. -Total 184 sputum smears showed 100% positivity by ZN a Result nd AR staining and total 184 smear of saliva samples showed, 31 (16.8%) were positive and 153(83.2%) were negative by ZN, & 146 (79.3%) were positive and 38(20.7%) were negative by AR staining method. Among the ZN positive saliva smear, 7 (3.8%) was scanty positive, 9 (4.9%) were 1+, 14 (7.6%) were 2+ and 1 (0.5%) were 3 + and among of the AR positive saliva smear 9 (4.9%) were scanty positive, 68 (37.0%) were 1+, 56 (30.4%) were 2+ and 13 (7.1%) were 3+ respectively and 75.5% by culture method. Our study showed that the saliva can be Conclusion – used as an alternative diagnostic medium for the screening of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis when aided with uorescent microscopy (Auramine-Rhodamine staining)