One year experience using mycobacterial blood cultures to diagnose tuberculosis in patients with prolonged fever in Vietnam
Nguyen DNT., Nguyen TV., Dao TT., Nguyen LT., Horby P., Nguyen KV., Wertheim HFL.
Introduction: To evaluate the use of mycobacterial blood cultures (MBC) in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in patients with prolonged fever admitted to a Vietnamese referral hospital. Results: MBCs from 94 patients (66% male; median age 33 years; 75% HIV positive) were evaluated: 14 were mycobacterium positive (all HIV positive), and MBC was the only positive specimen in 9 cases (41%). Three positive cases were identified as Mycobacterium avium and the remaining M. tuberculosis (one case could not be identified). Conclusion: MBC can be a valuable additional method to diagnose TB, particularly in immunosuppressed HIV patients when sputum cannot be collected.