Analysis on 849 cases of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Tianzhu,Guizhou province,2005-2008

Objective To analyze the prevalence of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) in Tianzhou and propose prevention and control measures.Methods The database of 849 pulmonary TB patients who were sputum smear-positive was set up by Excel 2003 and analyzed by EpiInfo 2003.Results Among the 849 smear positive cases,765 were firstly treated(92.46%),64 were re-treated(7.54%).The smear positive rate of TB in out-patient department was 23.62%(849/3595),the positive rate for males was 23.76%(616/2593) and for females was 23.25%(233/1002),the difference was not statistically significant(χ2=0.06,P=0.802).The seasonal distribution of the cases was not obvious.The cases aged 15-44 years accounted for 76.56%(650/849) of the total smear positive cases,and the cases in farmers accounted for 90.81%(771/849) of the total cases.Conclusion Referral and follow up are the main ways to find positive pulmonary TB patient,the timely/accurate case finding and the cure of smear positive cases are the important measures to eliminate infection source and control TB epidemic.