Journal of Tuberculosis Research, 2019, 7, 238-245 https://www.scirp.org/journal/jtr ISSN Online: 2329-8448 ISSN Print: 2329-843X DOI: 10.4236/jtr.2019.74023 Dec. 19, 2019 238 Journal of Tuberculosis Research Diagnostic Capacity for Tuberculosis in Various Laboratories within Meru County, Kenya David Mwenya Nakitare 1* , Patrick Mutharia Ndiba 1 , Frank Onyambu 1 , Sarah Wandili 2 1 School of Health Sciences, Meru University of Science and Technology, Meru, Kenya 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Meru University of Science and Technology, Meru, Kenya Abstract Background: The Division of Leprosy, Tuberculosis and Lung Disease re- ported a notification rate of 217/100,000 in Meru County. This study aimed at determining diagnostic capacity for tuberculosis in various medical laborato- ries within Meru County. Objective: To determine the diagnostic capacity for tuberculosis in various laboratories within Meru County. Materials and Me- thods: This was a cross-sectional survey which utilized quantitative tech- niques to establish the potential and capacity of TB diagnostic laboratories in selected medical institutions. Observational checklist was used to determine essential requirements for sample processing. Data entry was done through use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data analysis was done using Chi-square. Results: Results indicated that there was significant differ- ence in laboratory diagnostic capacity at [χ 2 (1 df, N = 26) = 18.49, p = 0.000 < 0.05] for Florescence microcopy and [χ 2 (1 df, N = 26) = 18.49, p = 0.000 < 0.05] for Gene Xpert Assay. There were significant differences in the diagnos- tic capacity of TB between public and private/commercial laboratories in re- lation to availability of the resources. Conclusion: Public operated laborato- ries had enhanced Tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic capacity as compared to the private laboratories. Keywords Diagnostic Capacity, Tuberculosis 1. Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is an infection which typically affects the pulmonary system and can also affect other parts of the body [1]. It is spread by cough droplets through the release How to cite this paper: Nakitare, D.M., Ndiba, P.M., Onyambu, F. and Wandili, S. (2019) Diagnostic Capacity for Tuberculosis in Various Laboratories within Meru Coun- ty, Kenya. Journal of Tuberculosis Research, 7, 238-245. https://doi.org/10.4236/jtr.2019.74023 Received: October 4, 2019 Accepted: December 16, 2019 Published: December 19, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access