Patient selection: Children <= 12 years of age with chronic cough for > 3 weeks and/or low body weight. (I also included weight loss and night sweats in the implementation.)
Diagnostic findings:
(1) positive smear for acid fast bacilli (Ziehl-Neelsen)
(2) positive mycobacterial culture
(3) positive PCR for M. tuberculosis
(4) positive skin test
(5) chest X-ray suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis
(6) caseating granulomas on biopsy
(7) history of contact with a patient with tuberculosis
If (1), (2) and/or (3) were positive, then the person was considered to have confirmed TB.
If (4), (5), and/or (6) were positive, then the person was started on antituberculosis drugs.
(1) If the patient improved, then the patient was considered to have probable TB.
(2) If the patient did not improve, then the patient was considered to have possible TB.
If only (7) was positive, then the patient was started on antibiotics for 2 weeks.
(1) If the patient improved, then a diagnosis other than TB was made.
(2) If the patient did not improve, then antituberculosis drugs were started.
(3) If the patient did not improve on antituberculosis drugs, then a diagnosis other than TB was made. If the patient improved on antituberculosis drugs, then the diagnosis was possible TB
If none of the findings were present, then other diagnoses were considered.
