ABSTRACT
Diagnosis, one of the fundamental objectives of the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), relies in the majority of disease-endemic countries (DECs) on the direct smear microscopic examination of sputum to identify highly infectious cases of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). The estimated worldwide detection rate of new smear-positive PTB under DOTS was 53% of the estimated total incidence in 2004 (1).
