Background: Population based prevalence survey is an important epidemiological index to measure the burden of\r\ntuberculosis (TB) disease and monitor progress towards TB control in high burden countries like Ethiopia. This study\r\nwas aimed to estimate the prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in the Tigray\r\nregion of Ethiopia.\r\nMethods: Sixteen rural and urban villages were randomly selected in a stratified multistage cluster\r\nsampling. Individuals aged 15 years and older were screened by symptom inquiry for PTB. Those individuals\r\nwho were symptomatic of PTB provided two sputum samples for smear microscopy, culture and molecular\r\ntyping.\r\nResults: The study covering 4,765 households screened a total of 12,175 individuals aged 15 years and above. The\r\noverall weighted prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed PTB in the Tigray region of Ethiopia was found to be 216/\r\n100,000 (95% CI: 202.08, 230.76) while the weighted prevalence of smear-positive PTB was 169/100,000 (95% CI: 155.53,\r\n181.60). The prevalence of bacteriologically confirmed TB was higher amongst males (352/100 000; 95% CI: 339.05,\r\n364.52) than females (162/100 000; 95% CI: 153.60, 171.17) and among rural (222/100,000; 95% CI: 212.77-231.53) as\r\ncompared to urban residents (193/100,000; 95% CI: 183.39-203.59).\r\nConclusions: This study found a relatively higher prevalence smear-positive PTB in the region than in a same period\r\nnationwide survey and identified a significant number of undetected PTB cases. The urgency for improved TB case\r\ndetection and intensified community awareness is emphasized.
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