Evaluation of various factors influencing sputum smear positivity in newly diagnosed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at a tertiary care centre of Bengaluru

---

Original Article

Author Details : Saroja B. G.*

Volume : 3, Issue : 3, Year : 2018

Article Page : 150-152

https://doi.org/10.18231/2581-4222.2018.0037

Suggest article by email

Get Permission

---

Abstract

Introduction: In a developing country like India tuberculosis (TB) is a common infectious disease diagnosed both in rural and in urban population. According to WHO (world health organisation) an open case of tuberculosis has at least three close contacts in their household resulting in prevalence rate of 2.5% among the close contacts. In the developing country it adds on to the economic burden. Many factors have been attributed to persistence of sputum positivity even at the end of intensive phase of TB treatment.
Objective: We conducted a retrospective study at our institution to identify the clinical, radiological and bacteriological factors of the patients influencing sputum conversion for AFB (acid fast bacilli) at the end of intensive phase (2 months) of anti- tubercular treatment in category 1.
Material and Methods: A retrospective Study was conducted at our institution from January 2016 to December 2017. Newly diagnosed open cases of TB were included in the study with retro viral cases being excluded from the study.
Results: Out of 179 cases in the study 103 cases were male and 86 cases were females. The predictive analysis and chi square test showed statistically significant association of smoking, cavity formation and degree of bacillary load and persistent sputum positivity.
Conclusion: Smoking, cavity formation and higher ABF load in the initial smears have higher possibility of persistent sputum positivity requiring more vigilant monitoring of such patients.

Keywords: Tuberculosis; Sputum positivity; Smoking; Cavity formation; Bacillary load.

How to cite : Saroja B. G., Evaluation of various factors influencing sputum smear positivity in newly diagnosed cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at a tertiary care centre of Bengaluru. IP Indian J Immunol Respir Med 2018;3(3):150-152

This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.