Evaluation of implementation of tuberculosis contact investigation in jazan 2013

Background: TB is one of the most infectious diseases resulting in considerable mortalities especially in low income countries. World health organization estates that About one-quarter of the world's population has latent TB, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit the disease. In KSA, the National tuberculosis program was established more than 30years ago in all regions of the kingdom following World health organization guidelines for the program. Methods: The study is a quantitative survey research deduced for secondary data of contacts of primary cases registered by the program in Jazan region. The data included demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory evaluations of the cases. Findings: The targeted population in this study are tuberculosis contacts of primary cases in the period Jan1st-Dec 31st .2013.All contacts nationals and non-nationals, males and females with median age 15-49 years old were included in the study. The study included (2308) contacts for 198 primary cases of which 98% were screened for latent TB which turned to represent 26% of the screened cases in this study. All the cases received treatment on time in accordance with World health organization guidelines. For those who were initially tuberculin skin test negative (1688), the test was repeated in 61.79% revealing 10% of them have changed to positive cases. While those with an initial positive result, 25% had chest xray done showing abnormal findings in 2.04% and for those who repeated the smear test (0.39%), 40% came out positive for tuberculosis. Conclusion: The key finding in this study proves that the national tuberculosis programm of Jazan region is adherent to the guidelines of the national program which goes in alliance with World health organization regulations and guidelines, nevertheless, raising awareness among the population is a must. Further studies are recommended to reveal the causes of investigation and treatment refusal.