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Article: Sputum conversion at the end of intensive phase treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with diabetes mellitus or HIV infection/Authors' response
- Article from:
- Indian Journal of Medical Research
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Indian Council of Medical Research Apr 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Sir,
Banu Rekha and colleagues' in their study found that at the end of intensive phase of tuberculosis treatment among sputum positive cases, the smear conversion rates were 58, 61, 62 per cent and culture conversion 86, 88 and 92 per cent respectively. Also, the patients with HIV infection or diabetes had marginally better conversion rate than pulmonary tuberculosis patients without any co-morbidity. According to Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), the minimum duration of treatment to assess outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis patients is 6 months. However, the authors' have discussed the smear conversion rate after two months (intensive phase) without mentioning ...