Assessment of Immunization to Hepatitis B Vaccine among Children under Five Years in Rural Areas of Taiz, Yemen.

. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection poses a major health problem worldwide. approximately 1 million deaths annually due to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Patients direct costs to undergo TB diagnosis.

Background: A major impediment to the treatment of TB is a diagnostic process that requires multiple visits. Descriptions of patient costs associated with diagnosis use different protocols and are not comparable.

Methods: We aimed to describe the direct costs incurred by adults attending TB diagnostic centres in four countries and factors associated with expenditure for diagnosis.

Barriers to completing TB diagnosis in Yemen: services should respond to patients' needs.

Objectives And Background: Obtaining a diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is a prerequisite for accessing specific treatment, yet one third of estimated new cases are missed worldwide by National Programmes. This study investigated economic, geographical, socio-cultural and health system factors hindering adults' attendance and completion of the TB diagnostic process in Yemen, to inform interventions designed to improve patient access to services.

Methodology: The study employed a mixed methods design comprising a cross-sectional survey and In-Depth-Interviews (IDIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) among patients abandoning the diagnosis or registering for treatment.

LED fluorescence microscopy for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis: a multi-country cross-sectional evaluation.

Background: The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in resource-limited settings relies on Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) smear microscopy. LED fluorescence microscopy (LED-FM) has many potential advantages over ZN smear microscopy, but requires evaluation in the field. The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity/specificity of LED-FM for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB and whether its performance varies with the timing of specimen collection.

A multi-country non-inferiority cluster randomized trial of frontloaded smear microscopy for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: More than 50 million people around the world are investigated for tuberculosis using sputum smear microscopy annually. This process requires repeated visits and patients often drop out.

Methods And Findings: This clinical trial of adults with cough ≥2 wk duration (in Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, and Yemen) compared the sensitivity/specificity of two sputum samples collected "on the spot" during the first visit plus one sputum sample collected the following morning (spot-spot-morning [SSM]) versus the standard spot-morning-spot (SMS) scheme.