Current status of mycobacterial testing in clinical laboratories. Results of a questionnaire completed by participants in the College of American Pathologists Mycobacteriology E survey.

To learn what methods are used in clinical microbiology laboratories for detection, identification, and susceptibility testing of mycobacteria, questions addressing these issues were added to the College of American Pathologists' Mycobacteriology E proficiency testing survey, and participants in the survey were asked to complete the questionnaire. Other questions related to numbers of mycobacteriology tests performed and the frequency with which drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis is isolated. Just over half of the respondents stained smears for acid-fast bacilli with the fluorochrome stain. Only 26% of respondents processed respiratory specimens daily, potentially providing results within 24 hours of receiving the specimen. The most rapid methods currently available for detection of mycobacteria and for identification of M tuberculosis, respectively, were used by 30% and 35% of the respondents. Half of the respondents who performed susceptibility testing on isolates of M tuberculosis used rapid methods. Approximately 26% of the respondents indicated that they usually provided a final identification of M tuberculosis within 21 days of receiving a specimen, and 11% indicated that identification and susceptibility test results were reported within 28 days. Participants' responses indicated that the mean number of specimens received for mycobacterial culture per month was higher during the first 5 months of 1992 than it had been in 1991. Moreover, the number of drug-resistant M tuberculosis isolated per month from January through May 1992 was about double the number isolated per month in 1991.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)