Table 1
Results of the categorisation of 2264 sputum specimens from 1242 patients for their likelihood to contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis based on clinical details supplied on request forms compared with the results of sputum microscopy for acid fast bacilli and the results of culture
| Categories (see text for details) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unclassified | Low priority | Medium priority | High priority | Total | |
| Number of specimens | 823 | 521 | 561 | 359 | 2264 |
| Isolates of all mycobacteria (smear +ve samples) | 37 (23) | 15 (11) | 31 (24) | 58 (50) | 141 (100) |
| Isolates of M tuberculosis (smear +ve samples) | 9 (9) | 10 (8) | 19 (17) | 32 (29) | 70 (63) |
| % Isolation of M tuberculosis | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 8.9 | 3.1 |
