Prevalence of Tuberculosis Infection among a rural and urban health training center of a medical college

Abstract

Background: The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of the disease tuberculosis, which is easily spread by inhaling air droplets from an infected person. Due to its methods of transmission and extensive treatment requirements, tuberculosis has emerged as a major public health concern on a global scale.

Materials and methods: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of this disease in rural and urban health training center of a medical college in Ghaziabad.

 Results: The study included 400 participants (220 from first medical college and 180 from another medical college) who were in attendance at the medical institutions, yielding a total prevalence of 29.84%. Rural recorded a prevalence of 29.7%, whilst urban recorded a prevalence of 26.3%. Patients under the age of 10 made up 8(1.9)% of the total prevalence, while patients between the ages of 30-39 made up 143(35.8%). 61% of the subjects were male, compared to 39% of the subjects being female.

Conclusion: Given that most patients assumed they would receive prompt care at the urban, a state-owned specialised hospital, as opposed to rural, a federally-owned facility with numerous bottleneck protocols, this may have explained the increased occurrence. However, it is crucial to maintain surveillance and provide patients who have been diagnosed with TB with free or heavily discounted TB medications. Other ways to reduce its prevalence include placing patients in quarantine until the bacterium has completely left their bodies in order to prevent cross-contamination and transmission to healthy people at home, at work, or while traveling. Additionally, reducing the amount of people crammed into our remote communities' schools, churches, mosques, and prisons would undoubtedly help.