Why oral antiseptic mouth rinsing before sputum collection cannot reduce contamination rate of mycobacterial culture in Burkina-Faso.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis by culture in most resource-limited settings is hampered by high contamination rate varying up to 31%. Reduction of oral microorganism loads by mouth rinse with antiseptic before sputum collection showed a reduction of contamination. Moreover, knowing the characteristic of residual contaminant microorganisms would be an asset to understand contamination issues.