Introducing a Cold Staining Technique for Demonstrating Acid-Fast Bacilli under Field Conditions

Abstract

Tuberculosis which is a public health menace in many a developing country has been diagnosed over the years by the Conventional Ziehl-Neelsen's acid-fast staining technique. This technique, however, is tedious, cumbersome and time-consuming. It moreover, does not lead itself to application in the field and, therefore, unsuitable for tuberculosis surveillance work. (eg. Primary Health Care Programme).

The Cold-Acid-fast (C-ZN) staining method reported here has succeeded in correcting some of the short-comings of the Conventional Ziehl-Neelsen (Conv-Zn) technique for demonstrating add fast bacilli. A field kit has been designed and it is here introduced. The accordance (correlation) between the Cold-Acid fast and the Conventional Ziehl-Neelsen's staining techniques was 93.2%.