Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Suspected Sudanese Patients in Wad Madani Tuberculosis Center

Background: Tuberculosis is a health problem in Sudan and may become a greater challenge in the future due to the weakness in infection prevention measures, increase in cases of drug-resistant and the difficulty of diagnosis. Objective: The aim of this study was to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from sputum of clinically suspected patients using the three available techniques. Methods: Three hundred participants referred to Wad Madani Tuberculosis Center during 2017-2019 were included. Early morning fresh sputum samples were subjected to Mycobacterium tuberculosis examination by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain without concentration, ZN stain with centrifugation and geneXpert assay. Results: Of the 300 suspected cases;Mycobacterium tuberculosis detected in 17% (51/300) by ZN stain without concentration, 20% (59/300) by ZN stain with centrifugation and 34% (103/300) by geneXpert. The two techniques of ZN stains possessed 100% specificity and relative differences in sensitivity when compared to geneXpert assay. The significant association observed between ZN stains and geneXpert results indicated validity of ZN techniques for detection. Conclusions: The study confirmed that geneXpert is better for identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis when compared to ZN techniques which are also important for diagnosis in poor places and where the geneXpert assay is not available.