An Epidemiological Study of Sputum Positive TB Patients & Burden of Tuberculosis amongst their Contacts in East District of Sikkim

Background- Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem all over the world and more so in India as it reports the highest burden of TB (both Drug sensitive and Drug resistant TB) globally. The magnitude of TB in Sikkim is enormous as is evident by the number of cases being reported (275 per 100,000 population) which is higher than the national average. It is a known fact that one single active case of TB can infect about 10 to 15 persons in a year. Early identification of the contacts ensures a better chance at cure and also helps to reduce the transmission. Materials and Method - It was a cross sectional study conducted among all the Sputum Positive cases of Tuberculosis and their household contacts in East District of Sikkim that were registered with RNTCP for the first and second quarters of the year 2017. Results- A total of 55 sputum positive cases of Tuberculosis and 196 household contacts were included in the study. Nearly 60% of the index cases reported having cough for more than two weeks along with fever in the beginning of their illness. On assessment of the past medical history of the contacts, it was observed that 8 (4.08%) had a history of TB in past. Almost a quarter of the contacts spent all their time in the same room as the index cases, another quarter spent only night time in the same room while about 61(30%) spend only daytime in the same room as index cases. Among the contacts, 5 were referred for sputum microscopy out of which 1 was found to be positive and 1 was negative. The remaining 3 didn’t get themselves tested. Conclusions- With the burden of TB being highest in India and having a goal to end TB by 2025, a more active approach to diagnose TB among contacts is the need of the hour which can led to early treatment and cut down transmission among the contacts.