Early chest X-ray in persons with presumptive tuberculosis increases Xpert® MTB/RIF diagnostic yield and efficiency.

Adult presumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients ( = 1690) were screened for TB using a questionnaire, chest X-ray (CXR) and sputum microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (AFB); Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was performed for 74% of the patients and Xpert MTB/RIF was done for 17.2%. Among patients recruited, 943 (55.

Role of blood bag temperature indicators in maintaining patent temperature of the returned unused blood bags in blood bank.

Background And Aims: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the temperature chain of red blood cells (RBC) returned unused blood bags using blood temperature indicator and ascertain the factors like transportation time, type, size of coolant box and number of bags per box.

Materials And Methods: A total of 250 blood bags with the indicator were observed for the temperature changes with other factors like transportation time, type and size of coolant box and number of bags per box. The recordings were performed at several checkpoints located between the blood bank and the wards.