Incidence of AFB sputum smears positive patients of pulmonary tuberculosis attending out patient department of chest medicine, Nishtar hospital, Multan

ABSTRACT

To find out the incidence of AFB smear positive patients of pulmonary tuberculosis who presented to out - patient department of chest medicine from January 2005 to October 2007. This retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Physiology in collaboration with Department of Chest Medicine and Tuberculosis Nishtar Hospital Multan. In this study, the hospital records of newly diagnosed patients of pulmonary tuberculosis were analyezd. The patients were classified into, various groups according to age and gender. The incidence of AFB smear positive patients and frequency of the presentation was calculated. The overall percentage of AFB smear positive cases between January 2005 and October 2007 in region of Multan was 22.16%, but it has dropped gradually from 2005 to 2007 both in male and female patients. A higher incidence was seen in population ranging in age between 10-30 years. Sputum smear examination for AFB is simple and cost-effective method to provide a fairly realistic estimate of the incidence or prevalence of tuberculosis. Although there was a decreasing trend in the incidence of AFB smear positive cases from 2005 to 2007, the high burden of tuberculosis among Pakistani population still warrants renewed and enhanced efforts to control TB. The higher prevalence of persistent cough and AFB-positive sputum smears need further exploration