PREVALENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS AND RIFAMPICIN RESISTANT Mycobacterium tuberculosis AMONG PATIENTS RECEIVING TREATMENT IN ERCC MEDICAL CENTER ALUSHI, NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of tuberculosis among patients undergoing treatment at the ERCC medical centre in Alushi from January 2017 to July 2021. A total of 3029 TB presumptive patients were included in the current investigation. The overall TB prevalence was 43.57%. There were 993 (64.90%) males, 10.1% of whom were rifampicin resistant, and 537 (35.09%) females, 34.8% of whom were rifampicin resistant. The highest prevalence is recorded in all age groups, was seen in the age bracket 21-30 with a total of 350 (26.51%) and 327 (24.77%) in the age range 31-40. Findings revealed that having a history of TB medication and being female were both associated with the development of rifampicin-resistant Tuberculosis and patients aged 21 to 40 were more likely than others to be infected with tuberculosis and develop rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis. Because of the high prevalence, immediate action is essential to encourage early identification and the completion of DR-TB medication in order to prevent the disease from spreading in the community, as well as continuous community health education about tuberculosis and the risk of drug resistance