Perfil epidemiológico dos casos de tuberculose no município de Belém no período entre 2019 e 2021

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by aerobic gram-negative bacteria, and those belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis group are those that cause the disease in humans. The most common form is pulmonary, and there may be extrapulmonary forms. Factors such as diabetes, HIV infection, alcohol consumption, smoking favor TB illness. The physician plays an important role in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. As of 2019, TB control strategies were impacted by the pandemic caused by COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiological profile of tuberculosis in the city of Belém, between the years 2019 and 2021. METHOD: This is an epidemiological, retrospective descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The data used were obtained from the DATASUS platform, in the public domain, using the TABNET/DATASUS tool. RESULTS: In general, the data on tuberculosis cases registered in Belém between 2019 and 2021, from this study, agree with the global and national trend of reduction in the number of cases, recording a 27.8% drop in the numbers in this period. The reduction in cases was primarily due to the decrease in diagnoses, as evidenced by the drop in smear smears of the 1st sputum, sputum culture, rapid tests and sensitivity tests. CONCLUSION: The epidemiological variables related to TB followed the proportional decrease in the number of reported cases in the period between 2019 and 2021. The numbers of cases decreased in the period in question, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the present study corroborated the understanding of the importance of health services in the identification of possible TB cases and risk groups for illness.