Características epidemiológicas de la tuberculosis en Colombia

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious global, regional, and national public health problem, as epidemiological data show it has a high burden of morbidity and mortality that has serious social, economic, and health impacts. Objective: To describe the epidemiological characteristics of TB in Colombia. Materials and methods: Descriptive study conducted using official data from the Colombian National Tuberculosis Control Program. TB cases reported in the country between 2019 and 2022 were characterized. Regarding treatment outcomes, given its duration, outcomes were analyzed from 2017 to 2021 and from 2017 to 2020 for susceptible TB and drug-resistant TB cases, respectively. TB incidence and mortality rates were calculated using historical data recorded in the National TB Control Program between 2002 and 2022. Results: A stable trend was observed in the TB incidence rate between 2002 and 2015 (23-26.4 cases per 100 000 people); it slightly increased between 2016 to 2019 (25.0 to 27. 3 cases), but in 2020 and 2021, given the reduction in the detection of TB cases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it decreased (22.0 and 25.9 cases). However, a significant increase was observed in 2022 (31.6 cases per 100 000 inhabitants), when the mortality rate was 2.4 cases per 100 000 inhabitants. The number of cases in children <15 years increased between 2019 and 2022 (2.71% vs. 3.30%). Finally, between 2017 and 2021, the frequency of successfully treated cases and relapses ranged from 60.97% to 75.0%. Conclusion: The behavior of TB incidence and mortality in Colombia shows an increasing trend.