Phenol ammonium sulphate basic fuchsin staining of sputum in pot for the detection of acid-fast bacilli.

Background & Objectives: Improper practices of making direct smears of sputum for detection of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) and of disposing sputum cups are hazardous. The present study was undertaken with the objective to stain sputum samples in their containers by 'phenol (10%) ammonium sulphate (4%) basic fuchsin (2%) solution' and to decolourize and counterstain their smears for detection of AFB- (henceforth called pot method) and to compare the smear results of pot method with the standard Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) method.

Methods: A total of 575 selected sputum samples from pulmonary tuberculosis patients were stained by the standard ZN and pot methods and the proportions of AFB positive smears were compared.