Sensitivity studies in bacteriologic diagnosis of urinary tuberculosis.

The identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms is insensitive. This in vitro investigation compares the sensitivity of Ziehl-Neelsen and fluorochrome staining techniques after two and ten hours of incubation with standard culture techniques. The culture methods were persistently more sensitive than the stain techniques. Both stain techniques were of equal sensitivity. Ten hours incubation reduces the sensitivity of the staining techniques but does not alter the sensitivity of the culture methods.