EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCUOSIS IN THE PRIMORSKO-GORANSKA COUNTY DURING THE PERIOD OF 2017-2019

Mycobacteriaceae. Jedan od najčešćih uzročnika je Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bakterija koja je uzročnik bolesti se prenosi s oboljele osobe na zdravu osobu putem sitnih kapljica koje dospijevaju u zrak prilikom kašlja ili kihanja. Bolest najčešće zahvaća pluća, iako se može proširiti i na ostale dijelove tijela poput bubrega, kralježnice i mozga. Procjenjuje je da danas u svijetu oko jedna četvrtina stanovništva zahvaćena ovom bolesti. Poznato je također da neka medicinska stanja stvaraju veći rizik za razvitak bolesti. Neki od tih stanja su infekcija HIV-om, maligne bolesti, dijabetes, konzumacija alkohola i drugo. Povećani rizik je prisutan i kod osoba koje su smještene u nekih od ustanova kao što su zatvori, psihijatrijske bolnice, domovi za starije i nemoćne i slično. Ovaj rad obuhvaća podatke tijekom trogodišnjeg razdoblja. Praćene godine su 2017., 2018. i 2019. na području Primorsko - goranske županije (Hrvatska) s ciljem stvaranja epidemiološkog prikaza tuberkuloze. U radu su uključeni podaci raspodjele pacijenata prema spolu, dobi, zanimanju, zemlji rođenja, dijagnozi, izolaciji uzročnika, procijepljenosti, uzroku smrti i prisutnosti kronične bolesti. Najmanji broj oboljelih bio je 2018. godine, kada je zabilježen 21 pacijent, dok je 2017. broj bio najveći 24. Od bolesti su češće obolijevali muškarci, osim 2017. kada je broj oboljelih žena bio veći od polovice ukupnog broja oboljelih te godine. Bolest je najučestalija kod osoba u životnoj dobi od 55 do 59. Od posljedica tuberkuloze 2017. godine umrla je jedna osoba, dok su 2018. umrle 2 osobe.Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by strains of bacteria from the Mycobacteriaceae family. One of the most common causes is Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacterium that causes the disease is transmitted from the diseased person to the healthy person via tiny droplets that reach the air when coughing or sneezing. The disease most commonly affects the lungs, although it can also spread to other parts of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. It is estimated that around one-quarter of the population is affected by the disease today in the world. Some medical conditions are also known to create a higher risk of developing the disease. Some of these conditions are HIV infection, malignancies, diabetes, alcohol consumption, and more. The increased risk is also present in persons housed in some of the institutions such as prisons, psychiatric hospitals, retirement homes and the like. This paper covers data over a three - year period. The years monitored are 2017, 2018 and 2019 in the Primorje - Gorski Kotar County (Croatia) with the aim of creating an epidemiological overview of tuberculosis. The data include distribution of patients by gender, age, occupation, country of birth, diagnosis, isolation of the causative agent, vaccination, cause of death and presence of chronic disease. The lowest number of patients was in 2018, when 21 patients were recorded, while in 2017 the number was 24. Men were more likely to suffer from the disease, except in 2017, when the number of women affected was more than half the total number of patients that year. The disease was most prevalent in people between the ages of 55 and 59. One person died from tuberculosis in 2017, while in 2018, 2 people died