Pulmonary

Does distance to healthcare facility affect care-seeking for TB-related symptoms in Tanzania?

BACKGROUND: In high TB burden countries, delayed diagnosis remains a big challenge in TB control. The objective of this study is to assess the role of distance between residence and healthcare facility (HCF) on care-seeking among individuals with …

Health care-seeking behaviour among people with cough in Tanzania: findings from a tuberculosis prevalence survey

SETTING: The study was conducted within a nation-wide population-based tuberculosis (TB) prevalence survey in the adult population in Tanzania. OBJECTIVE: To assess the health care-seeking behaviour of coughers presumed to have TB. DESIGN: A survey …

Care seeking in tuberculosis: results from a countrywide cluster randomised survey in Bangladesh

OBJECTIVES: To explore systematically the care seeking trajectories of tuberculosis (TB) cases up to four subsequent places of care and to assess the type of services provided at each place. METHODS: TB cases detected actively during the 2007-2009 …

Design of pragmatic trials of tuberculosis interventions

TB diagnostic process management of patients in a referral hospital in Mozambique in comparison with the 2007 WHO recommendations for the diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB

BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan African countries, the high proportion of smear-negative pulmonary TB (SNTB) and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) contributes to a delay in TB diagnosis and treatment. We evaluated the TB diagnostic process of adult patients with …

Prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis in persons aged ≥ 15 years in Bangladesh: results from a national survey, 2007-2009

The aim of this study was to determine the nationwide prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh. A multi-stage cluster survey of a random sample of persons aged ≥ 15 years was included in 40 clusters (20 urban, 20 rural). Two …

Multidrug resistance among new tuberculosis cases: detecting local variation through lot quality-assurance sampling

BACKGROUND: Current methodology for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) surveys endorsed by the World Health Organization provides estimates of MDR TB prevalence among new cases at the national level. On the aggregate, local variation in the …

The effect of tuberculosis and antiretroviral treatment on CD4+ cell count response in HIV-positive tuberculosis patients in Mozambique

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) presents a serious problem in Mozambique. HIV prevalence among TB patients is estimated at 47%. A delay in having their first CD4+ cell count could lead to a missed opportunity for ART initiation due to a CD4+ cell …

Contact tracing in low-incidence tuberculosis settings

Coverage and yield of tuberculosis contact investigations in the Netherlands

SETTING: An increasing proportion of tuberculosis (TB) patients in low-incidence countries are immigrants. It is unclear whether contact investigations among immigrant patients are adequate. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ethnicity of pulmonary TB …