[[TUBERCULOSIS ANNUAL REPORT 2014 - (3) Case Finding and Condition of Tuberculosis Patients on Diagnosis].]

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) surveillance data from 2014 was reviewed, with respect to modes of detection, symptoms at diagnosis, diagnostic delay, radiographic findings, comor- bidity, and drug susceptibility test (DST) results. Of the 19,615 newly registered TB cases, 82.8% were diagnosed while seeking care for, or during treatment of, other illnesses. Of the 15,149 patients with pulmonary TB (PTB), 55.9% presented with respiratory symptoms, while 18.0% presented with non-respiratory symptoms, and 25.5% were asympto- matic. Considerable delay to the initiation of treatment following the appearance of symptoms was observed among the younger symptomatic smear-positive TB patients. Over 35% of patients aged 35-59 years did not seek care for more than 2 months after the initial appearance of symptoms. The proportion of PTB patients with advanced or far- advanced cavitation peaked at 49.9% among males aged 60- 64 years, while it remained constant at around 25% among females in all age groups. Positive HIV test results were obtained in 0.2% (n- 45) of the newly registered TB patients, among which 86.7% were male and 22.2% were foreign-born. In addition, 16.3% of male and 10.5% of female newly diagnosed patients had diabetes mellitus. Of the 10,259 culture-positive PTB patients, DST results were available for 74.5% of patients. In previously untreated patients, the proportions of multi-drug resistant TB, any isoniazid resistance, and any rifampicin resistance were 0.6 %, 4.1 %, and 0.8%, respectively; among previously treated patients, these proportions were 3.3%, 12.7%, and 3.8%, respectively.