Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) for AFB Stain Test Cost & Procedure

Mycobacterial illness can be presumptively diagnosed using the AFB stain. All suspected cases must have an AFB culture.

Why is this examination suggested?

Aids in the detection of infections brought on by Mycobacterium TB and other Mycobacterium species, as well as the monitoring of treatment efficacy.

When should I be tested?

• Weight loss
• Appetite loss
• Persistent cough
• Fever with an evening rise in temperature
• Chills
• Enlarged neck nodes (lymph nodes),
• Weakness

When tuberculosis is suspected, when TB screening test results are positive, when exposed to a person diagnosed with tuberculosis, etc.

When are AFB tests conducted?

When a person exhibits signs of tuberculosis, such as a persistent cough, weight loss, fever (evening rise in temperature), chills, appetite loss, swollen lymph nodes, and weakness. Whether the results of the TB screening test are positive and to evaluate how well the TB treatment is working.

Is it possible for tuberculosis to remain asymptomatic?

Yes. Normal signs of an active tuberculosis infection include weight loss, appetite loss, fever, coughing, chills, etc. However, people can be asymptomatic if the tuberculosis infection is dormant. What other types of germs besides

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can the AFB stain detect?

MAC, Mycobacterium marinum, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium bovis, Nocardia species, etc., are examples of mycobacteria.

Procedure:

1. Make a smear of the specimen culture and heat fix it over blue heat on a clean, sterile microscopic slide.

2. Pour and flood the smear with carbon Fuschia, then heat it slowly until fumes appear.

3. Let it sit for five minutes, then rinse it off with gently running water from the faucet.

4. Add 20% sulfuric acid and wait a minute or two. Continue doing this until the smear turns pink.

5. Use water to rinse the acid off.

6. Cover the stain with methylene blue dye, let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse it with water.

7. Let the stain air dry before checking it with an oil immersion lens.

What does an AFB smear mean?

If acid-fast bacilli (Mycobacterium) are discovered when the AFB smear is inspected under a microscope, it is reported as positive and graded following the RNTCP standards. Before declaring the AFB stain to be negative, at least 100 oil immersion fields are inspected.