Management of hospitalized drug sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis patients during the Hajj mass gathering: A cross sectional study

Abstract

A B S T R A C TBackground: To document the management of drug-sensitive TB patients during the Hajj and assess compliance with the Saudi TB management guidelines. Method: The study was conducted in hospitals in Makkah during the 2016 and 2017 Hajj seasons. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on relevant indices on TB management and a scoring system was developed to assess compliance with guidelines. Results: Data was collected from 31 TB cases, 65.4% (17/26) were Saudi residents. Sputum culture was the only diagnostic test applied in 67.7% (21/31) of patients. Most (96.8%, 30/31) confirmed TB cases were isolated, but only 12.9% (4/28) were tested for HIV and merely 37% (10/27) received the recommended four 1st-line anti-TB drugs. Guideline compliance scores were highest for infection prevention and control and surveillance (9.6/10) and identifying TB suspects (7.2/10). The least scores were obtained for treating TB (5.0/10) and diagnosing TB (3.0/10). Conclusions: Healthcare providers training and supervision are paramount to improve their knowledge and skill and ensure their compliance with existing TB management guidelines. However, there may be a need for the introduction of an international policy/guideline for TB control and management during mass gatherings such as the Hajj to guide providers' choices and facilitate monitoring.

Evaluating the Sensitivity of Different Molecular Techniques for Detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex in Patients with Pulmonary Infection

“…This occurred because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is regarded as a region with very low TB infection incidence (original data) ( Alexander et al 2018 ). Moreover, most of the samples were collected prior to the annual Islamic pilgrimage (hajj), and in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the highest rate of TB-positive sputum samples is detected among none-Saudi patients attending the pilgrimage (hajj) ( Alotaibi et al 2019 ). Such a high proportion of sputum-positive samples among non-Saudi patients has reassured the authors that an accurate investigation of the carriage was properly undertaken.…”