Browsing by Author "Ismail, N. A."

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    Optimizing mycobacterial culture in smear- negative, human immunodeficiency virus- infected tuberculosis cases
    (Public Library of Science, 2015) Ismail, N. A.; Said, H. M.; Pinini, Z.; Omar, S. V.; Beyers, Nulda; Naidoo, P.
    Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health problem and the diagnosis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—infected individuals is challenging. The use of mycobacterial culture remains an important complementary tool and optimizing it has important benefits. We sought to determine the effect of an increase in the number of specimens evaluated, addition of nutritional supplementation to the culture medium, sputum appearance and volume on diagnostic yield and time to detection of pulmonary TB among smear-negative, HIV-infected adults. Methods: In this prospective study conducted at the Tshwane District Hospital and Academic TB Laboratory, Pretoria, South Africa we collected three sputum specimens an hour apart from presumptive TB cases at an antiretroviral treatment site. We analysed specimens from 236 patients. Specimen appearance and volume were recorded. All specimens were processed for culture using both standard and supplemented media. Results: A single specimen identified 79% of PTB cases using standard media; the second and third specimens added 12.5% and 8.3% respectively. Media supplementation, sputum appearance and specimen volume had no effect on culture yield or contamination rates. The mean time to detection was reduced from 19.8 days in standard cultures to 11.8 days in nutrient supplemented cultures (p = 0.002). For every 1 ml increase in sputum volume, time to detection was decreased by a factor of 0.797 (p = 0.011). Conclusion: Use of an inexpensive culture supplement substantially reduced time to detection and could contribute to reducing treatment delay among HIV-infected cases.
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    Tuberculosis research in South Africa over the past 30 years : from bench to bedside
    (South African Medical Association, 2019-12-05) Warren, R.; Ismail, N. A.; Chegou, N. N.; Theron, G.; Walzl, Gerhard; Malherbe, S. T.; Kinnear, C. J.; van der Spuy, G. D.; Goosen, W.; Miller, M. A.; Diacon, A. H.; van Helden, P. D.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African Medical Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research has a rich history of high-impact research that has influenced our understating of this hyper-epidemic which is further exacerbated by the emergence and spread of drug-resistant forms of the disease. This review aims to summarise the past 30 years of research conducted in the Centre which has influenced the way that tuberculosis (TB) is diagnosed and treated. The review includes the development of new technologies for rapid screening of people with probable TB and the repurposing of human diagnostics for wildlife conservation.