Tuberculosis infection trend over 6 years. A retrospective analysis from 2011 to 2016

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent and a major public health problem in Europe and worldwide. The present study pretends to characterize and evaluate the tendency of TB infections over a 6-year period. Methods: We performed a retrospective study on patients admitted to a tertiary hospital with tuberculosis, from 2011 to 2016, through electronic medical files' data collection. Results: We included 591 patients with a peak in 2013, as well as a slight increase in male gender prevalence and length of stay over the 6 years. There was a spike of comorbidities in 2012. A decrease in prevalence in white patients, due to increase in African and Asian was also reported, besides a decline in HIV status, homelessness and IV drugs use. This coincided with an increase in laboratory changes and radiological changes, along with a rise in microbiological resistance. Discussion: Our data is in line with current health policy reports. it is of utmost importance the effort towards control and elimination of TB, through rapid diagnosis, prompt report and complete treatment.