%0 Journal Article %A Mboneni, Tondani A. %A Eales, Owen O. %A Mosina, Ntsoaki L. %A Fourie, P. Bernard %T Molecular detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in poor-quality cough specimens %D 2020 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 69 %N 9 %P 1179-1182 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.001239 %K GeneXpert MTB/RIF %K flocked swabs %K primeStore molecular transport medium %K RT-PCR %K poor quality specimens %I Microbiology Society, %X Clinical specimens unfit for laboratory processing represent missed opportunities for diagnosing tuberculosis. Poor-quality cough specimens (n=61) from presumptive tuberculosis cases were cultured and GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) successfully performed on samples transferred by flocked swab into PrimeStore molecular transport medium (PS-MTM). Mycobacterium tuberculosis was grown in culture from 13 (21.3 %) and Xpert reported 15 (24.2 %) positive, of which 10 concordant. RT-PCR of PS-MTM samples showed enhanced sensitivity; three positives were missed by Xpert, five by culture and three more detected for a total of 21 positives (34.4 %). %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001239