Epidemiology of tuberculosis in Lorestan, 2008-2009

Background : Tuberculosis is known as one of the main causes of mortality worldwide. 1.7 milliard people worldwide are infected with TB germs, there are 8 million new cases of TB annually, and three million deaths occur due to the disease in developing countries. Materials and Methods: This study included all the cases who had referred to all the health centers of Lorestan province with positive samples for acid-fast bacilli, or with symptoms consistent with TB, who had been treated for tuberculosis by physicians during 2008-2009. Results: Out of 198 cases of TB in the province in 2009, 107 (54 %) and 91 (46 %) cases were male and female respectively. 109(55%) cases of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, 32(16%) cases of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis and 45(22/7%) cases of extra pulmonary tuberculosis, and 7(3/5%) cases of TB recurrence have been reported during this year. In 2008, 149 cases of TB have been reported, with an incidence of 8.4 per 100 thousand, out of them 79 (54%) and 70 (46%) cases were male and female respectively. 68(45/6%) cases of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, 35(23/5%) cases of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, and 35 (23/5%)cases of extra pulmonary tuberculosis have been reported. Conclusion: Considering the relatively high prevalence of tuberculosis in the province, reported cases of treatment failure and drug-resistant tuberculosis, it seems it is very important to diagnose the disease in the patients accurately and monitor drug consumption precisely.