Magnitude of the active screening in tuberculosis diagnosis implemented in vulnerable groups. Matanzas 2009-2013

Abstract

Background: tuberculosis is still an important health problem. The World Health Organization is trying to achieve a radical decrease of this disease load and to reduce its prevalence and mortality to the half with its strategy "Stop tuberculosis". The National Program of Tuberculosis Control, started in 1962, recommends the systematic search of the tuberculosis cases in the vulnerable groups.
Aim: to inform the diagnosis results of case localization through the active or systematic screening in vulnerable groups of the province of Matanzas, under the operational conditions of the National Program of Tuberculosis Control of Cuba.
Materials and methods: from July 2009 to december 2013, the health team carried out a cross-sectional, descriptive research of the active screening for diagnosing tuberculosis in vulnerable groups.
Outcomes: the volume of the active screening in persons from the vulnerable groups, the tuberculin skin tests, and thorax X rays increased per years. The highest number of screened persons corresponded to elder people, followed by diabetic ones and people living in critical places. The prevalence of the total latent tuberculosis infection was 0.089 % in these groups. The diagnosed cases (all of the forms) were mainly among alcohol abusers, ex-prisoners and immunodepressed people. 43.9 % of the total of AFB+ tuberculosis cases in the five years was diagnosed through the active screening.
Conclusions: tuberculosis was mainly diagnosed in the vulnerable groups, through the active screening. It was identified that the prevalence of this latent infection is low in these groups.