Trends in pattern of tuberculosis in Sharkia Governorate at Ministry of Health and Population Chest Hospitals from 2016 to 2019

Abstract Background Tuberculosis is a communicable disease that is one of the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent (ranking above human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The aim of this work was to study the trend of applying the tuberculosis control program at the ministry of health and population chest hospitals, Sharkia, Egypt. Results This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out using medical records from the tuberculosis registry at Ministry of Health and Population chest hospitals, Sharkia Governorate. The investigated variables included demographic characteristics, type of tuberculosis infection, and affected organs. All data were coded and statistically analyzed. A total 1404 cases of tuberculosis were notified between 2016 and 2019 with male predominance, where 67.1% were males and 32.9% were females. The highest number of tuberculosis patients was from the reproductive age groups. During the 4-year study period, the highest percentage of cases was new cases and the highest frequency of cases was during 2017 and the lowest frequency was during 2016. There was a decline in the total number of cases in 2018 and 2019 after sharp increase of total cases in 2017: pulmonary tuberculosis cases showed a sharp decline in 2017; however, there was an increase in extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases during 2017 then a slight decrease in 2018 and 2019. Of the pulmonary tuberculosis cases, 83.8% were smear-positive tuberculosis. Conclusions Pulmonary smear-positive and new cases were the most common among the recorded cases of tuberculosis. Productive age groups represented large percentage of the studied cases of tuberculosis. Lymph node and bones were the most common sites of extrapulmonary tuberculosis among reported cases in this study