High prevalence of tuberculosis diagnosed during autopsy examination at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The primary aims of tuberculosis (TB) control programmes is early diagnosis and prompt treatment of infectious cases to limit transmission. Failure to diagnose and adequately treat TB could lead to premature death and unrecognized transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The proportion of missed TB cases has not been reported in Tanzania.

Are sputum samples of retreatment tuberculosis reaching the reference laboratories? A 9-year audit in Tanzania.

Setting: One reference and three zonal laboratories and 500 health facilities managing retreatment tuberculosis (TB) patients in Tanzania.

Objectives: The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme (NTLP) requires that all notified cases of retreatment TB in Tanzania have sputum samples sent for culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST). This study determined 1) if the number of annually notified retreatment patients corresponded to the number of sputum samples received by the reference laboratories, and 2) the number of culture-positive samples and the number of cases undergoing DST.

Pouched rats' detection of tuberculosis in human sputum: comparison to culturing and polymerase chain reaction.

Setting. Tanzania. Objective.

p24 antigen detection on dried blood spots is a feasible and reliable test for infant HIV infection in rural Tanzania.

The difficulty of diagnosing HIV in infants is a major obstacle to early antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource-limited settings. As serological tests are unreliable during the first 18 months of life, and the cost and complexity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays limit their access in resource-limited settings, p24 antigen detection has emerged as an alternative diagnostic tool. In this study, the performance of an ultrasensitive p24 antigen assay on dried blood spots was evaluated under field conditions in rural Tanzania.

Using giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples: 2010 findings.

Giant African pouched rats previously have detected tuberculosis (TB) in human sputum samples in which the presence of TB was not initially detected by smear microscopy. Operant conditioning principles were used to train these rats to indicate TB-positive samples. In 2010, rats trained in this way evaluated 26,665 sputum samples from 12,329 patients.

Using giant African pouched rats to detect tuberculosis in human sputum samples: 2009 findings.

In 2009, giant African pouched rats trained to detect tuberculosis (TB) evaluated sputum samples from 10,523 patients whose sputum had previously been evaluated by smear microscopy. Microscopists found 13.3% of the patients to be TB-positive.

Quantifying risk factors for human brucellosis in rural northern Tanzania.

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonosis of veterinary, public health and economic significance in most developing countries. Human brucellosis is a severely debilitating disease that requires prolonged treatment with a combination of antibiotics. The disease can result in permanent and disabling sequel, and results in considerable medical expenses in addition to loss of income due to loss of working hours.

Delay in tuberculosis case detection in Pwani region, Tanzania. A cross sectional study.

Background: Delay in Tuberculosis (TB) case detection may worsen the disease and increase TB transmission. It is also a challenge to the National TB and Leprosy control Program (NTLP).

Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study in four out of six districts in Pwani region to estimate the extent and factors responsible for delay in TB case detection in Pwani region.

Pulmonary tuberculosis among women with cough attending clinics for family planning and maternal and child health in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) case detection in women has remained low in developing world. This study was conducted to determine the proportion of smear positive TB among women with cough regardless of the duration attending family Planning (FP) and Maternal and child health (MCH) clinics in Dar es Salaam.

Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study in all three municipal hospitals of Dar es Salaam, between October 2007 and June 2008.

Detection of pulmonary tuberculosis among patients with cough attending outpatient departments in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: does duration of cough matter?

Background: According to WHO estimates, tuberculosis case detection rate in Tanzania is less than 50% and this poses a major challenge to control tuberculosis in the country. Currently, one of the defining criteria for suspecting tuberculosis is cough for two weeks or more. We wanted to find out whether the prevalence of tuberculosis was different in patients who reported cough for two weeks or more, compared to patients with cough for less than two weeks.

African pouched rats for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis in sputum samples.

Setting: Resource-limited settings in sub-Saharan African countries.

Objective: To utilise African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in human sputum.

Design: A specially designed cage with 10 sniffing holes and cassette-carrier was used.

Health facility-based Active Management of the Third Stage of Labor: findings from a national survey in Tanzania.

Background: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of obstetric mortality. Studies show that Active Management of Third Stage of Labor (AMTSL) reduces Post Partum Hemorrhage (PPH). This study describes the practice of AMTSL and barriers to its effective use in Tanzania.

Knowledge of causes, clinical features and diagnosis of common zoonoses among medical practitioners in Tanzania.

Background: Many factors have been mentioned as contributing to under-diagnosis and under-reporting of zoonotic diseases particularly in the sub-Sahara African region. These include poor disease surveillance coverage, poor diagnostic capacity, the geographical distribution of those most affected and lack of clear strategies to address the plight of zoonotic diseases. The current study investigates the knowledge of medical practitioners of zoonotic diseases as a potential contributing factor to their under-diagnosis and hence under-reporting.

Capacity of healthcare facilities in the implementation of direct observed treatment strategy for tuberculosis in Arumeru and Karatu districts, Tanzania.

Directly Observed Treatment Short course strategy (DOTS) has proved to have potential improvement in tuberculosis (TB) control in Tanzania. The objective of this cross sectional study was to assess the capacity of health facilities in implementing DOTS, in Arumeru and Karatu districts, Tanzania. Information sought included the capacity to offer TB service and availability of qualified staff and equipment for TB diagnosis.

Perceptions of tuberculosis and treatment seeking behaviour in Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities in Tanzania.

This study was carried out in Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities in Tanzania to explore the perceptions of Tuberculosis (TB), and treatment seeking behaviour, among patients attending healthcare facilities. The study was conducted in four randomly selected health facilities providing directly observed treatment (DOT). Exit interviews were administered to 69 randomly selected TB patients.

The quality of sputum smear microscopy diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

This study was carried out to determine the rate of agreement or disagreement of microscopy reading and culture positivity rate among smear positixe and negative specimens between peripheral tuberculosis diagnostic centres (PDCs) and Central Reference luberculosis laboratory (CTRL). In this study 13 PDCs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were involved. Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) method was used to collect 222 sputum smear slides.

Quality of HIV laboratory testing in Tanzania: a situation analysis.

Tanzania is scaling up prevention, treatment, care and support of individuals affected with HIV. There is therefore a need for high quality and reliable HIV infection testing and AIDS staging. The objective of this study was to assess laboratories capacities of services in terms of HIV testing and quality control.

Evaluation of the MycoDot test in patients with suspected tuberculosis in a field setting in Tanzania.

Setting: Rapid, simple and inexpensive methods are needed to improve the diagnosis of tuberculosis in low-income countries. The MycoDot test has these characteristics.

Objective: To assess the utility of the MycoDot test in screening patients with suspected tuberculosis.