EVALUATION OF THE PREVALENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS IN AL-DIWANIYAH PROVINCE DURING THE YEARS FROM 2018 TO 2023

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is known to be a serious disease, primarily affecting the lungs and potentially fatal.Aim of Study: The major goal of this investigation was to evaluate the prevalence of TB in Al-Diwaniyah Province, Iraq.Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted at the specialized health centre for TB treatment from 2018 to 2023 in Al-Diwaniyah Province, Iraq.This study focused on the characteristics of TB patients; age, sex, site of TB and year of onset.Results: Data were collected for 652 confirmed TB cases based on clinical and laboratory diagnosis.Patients with TB were 45.511.6 years old on average with a range of 2 to 91 years.The age groups of the patients did not differ statistically, while the age group (25-34) had the greatest risk of TB infection at 18%.Furthermore, according to the sex of the patients, there was no statistical difference in the prevalence rate of TB (P.value = 0.095).The incidence of TB in Al-Diwaniyah Province increased by 18% annually in 2018, 2019, and 2023, yet this is still a concerning rate.The results also showed similar incidence rates between pulmonary TB (PTB) and extrapulmonary TB (EPTB), at 51% and 49%, respectively.In addition, EPTB was identified in many tissues and organs of the body, and the highest incidence of EPTB was in the lymph nodes (33%), followed by the joints and bones (23%), the pulmonary cavity (12%), and gastrointestinal tract (10%), where the differences in these rates led to determine of significant statistical differences (P.value= 0.0311).Conclusions: We found a similarity in the rates of TB infection during the survey years, so we noticed an effect of age or gender on the rate of infection.It was also shown that TB is widespread in the lungs or extrapulmonary tissues, especially in patients who live in urban areas.