Evaluation of housestaff physicians’ preparation and interpretation of sputum Gram stains for community-acquired pneumonia. J Gen Intern Med 1991;6:189–198.Fine MJ, Orloff JJ, Rihs JD, Vickers RM, Kominos S, Kapoor WN, Arena VC, Yu VL. Evaluation of housestaff physicians' preparation and...
18 Interpretation of this stain gives a preliminary indication of a bacteriologic diagnosis of TB if acid-fast organisms are seen; however, culture is required for confirmation. Organisms other than M. tuberculosis may be stained by this process, especially atypical mycobacteria, such as M. avium...
Use of the Gram stain to screen sputum samples for contamination before culture is well accepted, but the ability of the Gram stain to predict the microbial cause of pneumonia and guide antibiotic therapy is less certain. Studies in which the criteria for Gram stain interpretation are clearl...