Concentrated specimen smear microscopy utilising a polymer membrane sandwich filtration vessel for the detection of acid-fast bacilli in health facilities in Sabah, East Malaysia

Dawn Carmel Paul; Yun Fong Ngeow; Sook Fan Yap; Jiloris F Dony; Richard Avoi; Rashidah Mohammad; Hien Fuh Ng

doi:10.1016/j.tube.2022.102183

Concentrated specimen smear microscopy utilising a polymer membrane sandwich filtration vessel for the detection of acid-fast bacilli in health facilities in Sabah, East Malaysia

Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2022 Mar:133:102183. doi: 10.1016/j.tube.2022.102183. Epub 2022 Feb 13.

Authors

Dawn Carmel Paul¹, Yun Fong Ngeow², Sook Fan Yap³, Jiloris F Dony⁴, Richard Avoi⁵, Rashidah Mohammad⁴, Hien Fuh Ng³

Affiliations

¹ Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory, Sabah State Health Department, Sabah, Malaysia; Centre for Research on Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Centre for Research on Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: ngeowyf@utar.edu.my.
³ Centre for Research on Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁴ Kota Kinabalu Public Health Laboratory, Sabah State Health Department, Sabah, Malaysia.
⁵ Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sabah, Malaysia.

PMID: 35180496
DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2022.102183

Abstract

A simple, ready-to-use concentrated specimen smear microscopy method employing a nanometer silicon polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer membrane sandwich filtration vessel to concentrate acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in samples (SFV-CSSM, Hunan-Tech New Medical System Co. Ltd. China) was compared with direct sputum smear microscopy (DSSM) to determine its performance using culture on modified Ogawa agar as reference. The results for 4114 clinical samples collected from health facilities in Sabah were interpreted with reference to culture results, sample collection-transportation conditions and clinical data including responses to anti-TB drug treatment. The SFV-CSSM showed higher sensitivity than DSSM (79.4% versus 60.5%) and less background interference. Its ability to detect low levels of AFB at an affordable cost makes it an excellent tool for the screening of pauci-bacillary samples as well as for active case finding in TB control programs.

Keywords: Acid fast bacilli; Microscopy; PVDF; SFV-CSSM; Sandwich filtration vessel.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Health Facilities
Malaysia
Microscopy* / methods
Mycobacterium tuberculosis*
Polymers
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sputum
Tuberculosis* / diagnosis

Substances

Polymers