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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2005, p. 4245-4248, Vol. 43, No. 8
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.8.4245-4248.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Improved Laboratory Safety by Decontamination of Unstained Sputum Smears for Acid-Fast Microscopy

Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, PR,¹ Centro de Referência Professor Hélio Fraga, Rio de Janeiro, RJ,² Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas/UNESP, Araraquara, SP, Brazil³

Received 7 December 2004/ Returned for modification 21 January 2005/ Accepted 26 May 2005

Tubercle bacilli may survive in unstained heat-fixed sputum smears and may be an infection risk to laboratory staff. We compared the effectiveness of 1% and 5% sodium hypochlorite, 5% phenol, 2% glutaraldehyde, and 3.7% formalin in killing Mycobacterium tuberculosis present in smears prepared from 51 sputum samples. The smears were decontaminated by the tube and slide techniques. Phenol at 5%, glutaraldehyde at 2%, and buffered formalin at 3.7% for 1 min (tube technique) or for 10 min (slide technique) were effective in decontaminating sputum smears and preserved cell morphology and quantitative acid-fast microscopy results.