Background and study aims: Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health problem and ranks second in mortality caused by a communicable ailment. Egypt is a moderate TB burden country. Studying the pattern of TB and the patients' characteristics can help plan diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The current work aimed to assess the pattern of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases in Ain Shams University Hospital (ASUH) and correlate it with the characteristics of positive TB patients.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included the records of all TB patients or suspects presenting to ASUH who underwent diagnostic tests for tuberculosis from January 2016 through July 2022.‎
Results: The records of 7704 patients were analyzed. 124 patients were positive for TB. Most positive samples were lower respiratory (92.74%) and pleural fluid (2.42%). The remaining extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases were (4.84%). Positive TB cases were prevailing among males in the productive age group (31–60 years). The positivity rate of TB cases showed a rising pattern from 2016 to 2018, where the highest rate (2.26%) was observed followed by an upwards and downwards pattern to reach its lowest rate (0.84%) in 2021. Afterwards, a sharp rise was noticed in 2022.
Conclusion: TB is more prevailing among males, especially pulmonary tuberculosis. We noted an increasing trend among females. Thus, TB control approach should provide more care for those patients and propagate awareness to avoid unhealthy practices. We recommend encouraging hygienic practices as those used for COVID-19. This would help us minimize the number of TB patients, thus decreasing the financial burden.