Preliminary Study on the Epidemiology of Tuberculosis

Epidemiological study for Tuberculosis (TB) has been conducted in developed and developing countries to accesses the burden of the disease in their countries. However, this study was lacking in Nekemte and its surroundings, western Ethiopia. Therefore, present study was designed for cross-sectional study to generate preliminary epidemiological information on TB in Nekemte and its surroundings, Western Ethiopia. Clinical examination, chest X-ray, acid-fast staining, culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used in the study. In addition, five years Nekemte Hospital and Nekemte Health center data were analyzed to assess the five years situation of TB, TB and HIV co-infection, and treatment outcome. The results of the study reveals that out of 30,945 TB cases registered from 2003-2008, 19,494 (63%) had pulmonary TB (PTB) and 11,451 (37%) suffered from extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) (χ2=81.936; p<0.001). From 19,494 registered PTB cases, smear positive PTB accounted for 2,462 (12.6%) of cases. The incidences of all forms of TB were gradually declining in the last five years, while the trend of smear positive TB was almost constant, according to retrospective analysis. The disease was also showed t