Increased tuberculosis case detection in Tanzanian children and adults using African giant pouched rats

BMC Infectious Diseases

Table 1 Characteristics of tuberculosis patients in Tanzania evaluated using rats at APOPO and sputum-smear microscopy at DOT facilities

Characteristic		TB by detection rats at APOPO^a	TB by smear at DOT lab^b
Characteristic	N	n (%)	n (%)	OR	95% CI	p-value
Age
< 15 years	129	91 (71)	38 (29)	2.33	1.59–3.41	< 0.001
≥ 15 years	3542	1795 (51)	1747 (49)
Gender
male	2680	1281 (48)	1399 (52)	0.58	0.51–0.67	< 0.001
female	1224	748 (61)	476 (39)
Bacillary load (AFB)
scanty	2046	1466 (72)	580 (28)	6.11^c	5.14–7.26	< 0.001
1+	922	363 (39)	559 (61)
2+	549	148 (27)	401 (73)
3+	412	52 (13)	360 (87)

^aTB at APOPO lab were Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) negative at DOT facilities, then re-evaluated by rats and confirmed later using concentrated smear light-emitting diode microscopy. ^bTB at DOT facilities were evaluated by sputum-smear microscopy and were positive for Acid Fast Bacilli. ^cThe Odds ratio was calculated by combining scanty and AFB 1+ together and AFB 2+ and 3+ together
APOPO Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling
DOT Directly Observed Therapy

ISSN: 1471-2334