Description

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's oldest and most important disseminating infectious diseases that still accounts for a high morbidity and mortality among adults. Despite high prevalence, case detection rates are low, posing major hurdles for TB control in developed and developing countries.Traditional diagnosis of TB bacilli depends upon smear positivity in sputum samples, culture and chest radiography. All these tests have known limitations. The tubercle bacillus was discovered more than two hundred years ago and substantial advancements have been made in our knowledge about the development of tuberculosis in human. The organism seems to evolve over a period of time in terms of its ability to survive the action of front line anti mycobacterial antibiotics by developing appropriate antibiotic resistant mechanisms.The first and foremost step in the diagnosis of TB is its accurate and early detection. To achieve this objective a methods have been concluded in this book that will help in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.