Question: what are sputum smear microscopy?
Answer: Sputum smear microscopy allows a rapid and reliable identification of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) where there are more than 5000 bacilli/ml of sputum. If the sputum has less than 5000 bacilli/ml, smear microscopy is highly unlikely to diagnose PTB, thus has an overall low sensitivity for PTB1,2,3.