Tuberculosis, Fiji, 2002-2013.

During 2002-2013, a total of 1,890 tuberculosis cases were recorded in Fiji. Notification rates per 100,000 population increased from 17.4 cases in 2002 to 28.

Audit of the practice of sputum smear examination for patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis in Fiji.

Background: In Fiji, patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) currently submit three sputum specimens for smear microscopy for acid-fast bacilli, but there is little information about how well this practice is carried out.

Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective review was carried out in all four TB diagnostic laboratories in Fiji to determine among new patients presenting with suspected PTB in 2011: the quality of submitted sputum; the number of sputum samples submitted; the relationship between quality and number of submitted samples to smear-positivity; and positive yield from first, second and third samples.

Results: Of 1940 patients with suspected PTB, 3522 sputum samples were submitted: 997 (51.