[Importance of quality control of baciloscopy in laboratories that perform diagnosis of tuberculosis].

Background: Baciloscopy is the primary tool for pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis, being this technique the most used internationally in the search for infectious cases. Quality control is the process of the rechecking smears by a highly qualified observer.

Aim: To evaluate and highlight the importance of quality control of smear microscopy in the Provincial Laboratories diagnosticians of Tuberculosis in Cuba.

[Isolation frequency of the Mycobacterium genus in urine samples].

Kidney infections caused by Mycobacterium genus are torpid and chronic evolution. In this study were analyzed 177 urine samples (included 110 from HIV patients) received between January 2006 and July 2014 in the National Reference Laboratory of Tuberculosis at Tropical Medicine Institute "Pedro Kourí" (IPK). The results were 17 isolates Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and 30 isolates of nontuberculous mycobacteria were detected.

[Surveillance of resistance to antitubercular drugs in Cuba, 2000-2009].

Objective: Determine the prevalence of resistance to antitubercular drugs in Cuba in the 2000-2009 decade.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted. The sample group consisted of 2,285 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained from throughout the country in the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2009.