Simple stool processing method for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis using GeneXpert MTB/RIF

The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (pTB) in young children often relies on clinical diagnosis because young children are usually unable to produce a sputum sample. Sputum induction (SI) or gastric aspiration (GA) can be applied to obtain a sample for microbiological diagnosis, but these methods cause discomfort, stress and pain, and cannot be performed at the lowest levels of the health care system, thus limiting access to pTB diagnosis of children. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: Dr. Klinkenberg has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Petra de Haas has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Tiemersma has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Ardjakusumah has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Dewi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. ANDRIYOKO has nothing to disclose.