page_title: Ziehl–Neelsen stain
section_title: Procedure
hierarchical_section_title: Ziehl–Neelsen stain / Procedure
caption_attribution_description: English: Acid fast staining mechanism.
context_page_description: Ziehl-Neelsen staining is a type of acid-fast stain, first introduced by Paul Ehrlich. Ziehl–Neelsen staining is a bacteriological stain used to identify acid-fast organisms, mainly Mycobacteria. It is named for two German doctors who modified the stain: the bacteriologist Franz Ziehl and the pathologist Friedrich Neelsen.
context_section_description: A typical AFB stain procedure involves dropping the cells in suspension onto a slide, then air drying the liquid and heat fixing the cells. 
  Studies have shown that an AFB stain without a culture has a poor negative predictive value. An AFB culture should be performed along with an AFB stain; this has a much higher negative predictive value.
caption: Mechanism of acid-fast staining in acid-fast cells and non-acid-fast cell.[21][22][23]
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