Adequacy of examining one sputum specimen in tuberculosis drug resistance surveys

ABSTRACT

Objective/background: Collection of one spot and one morning sputum specimen is recom-mended for tuberculosis [TB] drug resistance surveys. This was a retrospective analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures isolated from two spot sputum specimens collected from smear positive TB patients in a TB drug resistance survey. It was conducted to under-stand the value of a second specimen