['Routine tuberculosis control services in Burundi.', 'To determine whether systematic restaining of sputum smears for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) prior to rechecking quality assessment is necessary.', 'Blinded rechecking of peripheral routine smears, including a second control of discordants, before and after restaining.', 'Without restaining, 10/825 (1.2%) negative, and 59/189 (31.2%) positive results were declared false. After restaining, there were 34 (4.1%) false negatives and 13 (6.9%) false positives, both highly significant changes. Before restaining, quantification of positive smears was usually considered too high, while after restaining 41 out of 42 positives were found to have too low readings.'] Is systematic restaining of sputum smears for quality control useful in Burundi?