Laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis in a large pediatric hospital in Cambodia.

Setting: Tuberculosis laboratory in the Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital in Siem Reap, part of the Kantha Bopha Hospitals, the largest pediatric hospital complex in Cambodia.

Objective: To determine the efficiency of on-site microscopy and rRNA amplification in children with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and specimen sampling for culture.

Results: From 1 July 2005 to 31 March 2006, 52,400 children were admitted to the hospital.