A sputum stain for Mycobacteria is a laboratory test performed on a sample of your sputum, or phlegm. It’s also known as an acid-fast bacillus (AFB) stain or a tuberculosis (TB) smear. A doctor ...

Subgroups of tuberculosis (TB)-causing bacteria can persist even when antibiotics wipe out most of the overall population. The need to eliminate these persistent subpopulations is one reason why TB ...

With resistance to chemical antibiotics on the rise, the world needs entirely new forms of antibiotics. A new study published in Microbiology Spectrum shows that an enzymatic cocktail can kill a ...

The mystery of why mycobacteria -- a family that includes the microbe that causes TB -- are extraordinarily hardy organisms is being unravelled by research that offers new hope for developing a ...

Inhaling nontuberculous mycobacteria is common for most people. The bacteria are found in water systems, soil and dust worldwide and, for many, cause no harm. For those with underlying conditions, ...

A new study could help researchers identify how to tone down the ability of mycobacteria to cause disease and help them in treating infection. Tuberculosis-causing mycobacteria use a select group of ...

A diagnostic tool has been developed to identify nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections, dramatically expediting the diagnostic process from 6 months to 2 hours. Regularly inhaling NTM may not ...

In 1654, Rembrandt painted a woman, in Amsterdam, bathing in a stream. As she lifts her nightdress above her knees and treads deeper, the woman is stepping from one world into another. Among art ...

The mystery of why mycobacteria—a family that includes the microbe that causes TB—are extraordinarily hardy organisms is being unravelled by University of Otago, New Zealand, research that offers new ...