A Descriptive Epidemiological Study of Tuberculosis (in Wasit province): Retrospective Analysis of Laboratory and Temporal Data Over a OneYear

Abstract

This study presents a descriptive analysis of the distribution of tuberculosis in Wasit Governorate in 2024, based on data collected over a full year, divided into quarterly sections. The study tracked epidemiological changes in the disease throughout the year, laboratory diagnostic methods, reliance on traditional methods such as microscopic examination and bacterial culture, as well as modern molecular diagnostic methods such as GeneXpert. Routine microscopic examination demonstrated very low sensitivity, with a positive result rate of less than 2%, and no statistically significant quarterly differences were observed. In contrast, bacterial culture showed high detection efficiency, with a positive rate of 30.3%, and exhibited statistically significant differences between quarters (P ≤ 0.01), peaking in quarters 3 and 4. Molecular diagnosis identified 11.29% of cases as positive, with the highest rate in quarter 3 (30%), revealing a statistically significant variability (P = 0.0078). The study identified one case of rifampicin resistance that emerged in the third quarter, while 92.86% were sensitive, this discrepancy was confirmed by a p-value of (0.0495) as statistically significant. In conclusion, the study showed that microscopic examination results have limited accuracy and demonstrated the superiority of bacterial culture diagnosis. However, it requires more time, and this delay is not in the patient’s best interest. Furthermore, molecular diagnosis using GeneXpert offers greater accuracy and a faster diagnostic time, making its use essential . Download Full Text