Abstract

ALARCON-ROBAYO, José Fair et al. Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in inmates in ten Colombian prisons, 2013. Acta méd. Peru [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.3, pp.202-207. ISSN 1728-5917.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in prisoners, its annual incidence is 25 to 7000 cases per 100,000 prisoners vs. 25.6 per 100,000 in the worldwide general population. Objective: To determine the prevalence of tuberculosis in prisoners with respiratory symptoms in Tolima-Colombia during 2013. Material and methods: Cross-sectional study performed in inmates from prisons in 10 Colombian cities. Active surveillance of inmates with respiratory symptoms (cough and sputum production) was performed; sputum, saliva, and/or oro-pharyngeal samples were obtained, and Ziehl-Neelsen staining for direct examination and Ogawa-Kudoh Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures were performed. Results: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was 16.2% (1129/6961), the mean age of these subjects was 27 years (range 24 to 45), 53% (601) had cough for <15 days, 24% had fever and 23.6% had night sweats. The prevalence of tuberculosis was 1.5% (17/1129), the incidence rate for these inmates was 244.22 per 100,000 and the adjusted prevalence rate was 293.15 per 100,000 prisoners in Ibague. Conclusions: This study shows the high prevalence of TB in prisoners of Tolima and highlights the importance of defining more strict TB screening protocols for inmates compared with those for the general population

Keywords : Prisioners; Tuberculosis; pulmonary; Prevalence.

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