Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most frequent and important infectious disease causing morbidity and mortality globally. The World Health Organization estimates the incidence of all forms of TB in Zambia at 444/100,000. Tuberculosis case notification rates have increased eightfold over the past two decades and this is largely due to the concurrent Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemic. The cornerstone of Tuberculosis control is early case detection and treatment which is promoted by Direct Observed Treatment-Short course strategy. This paper reviews the available information in English on TB situation in Ndola district of Zambia with the purpose of assessing successes recorded over the reviewed period. Results: This review has noted a reduction in the number of new cases of TB recorded, improved diagnosis and treatment success of TB in Ndola district over the reviewed period. Conclusion: This review has observed a reduction in the number of new cases of TB recorded in Ndola district over a period of ten years due to the strategies put up by the National TB Program as well as the effective implementation of the strategies by the District Medical team. These strategies included the Directly Observed Therapy Short course (DOTS).
Highlights
Worldwide, Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most frequent and important infectious disease causing morbidityHow to cite this paper: Monde, N., Munyeme, M. and Malama, S. (2016) A Review of Tuberculosis in Ndola District of Zambia
Tuberculosis is caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC), which includes Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium caprae, Mycobacterium microti, Mycobacterium pinnipedii and Mycobacterium canettii [1] [2]
Despite a long-running National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Program (NTLP), Zambia has seen a rapid increase in TB cases, especially after 1983, synchronous with the beginning of the HIV era in Zambia [6]
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most frequent and important infectious disease causing morbidity. The rapid increase of tuberculosis in Zambia from 1985 to 2004 (Figure 1) was mainly attributed to the HIV epidemic, but other factors like population growth, urban overcrowding and improved case detection could have contributed [13] Zambia has made good progress in TB control since 2007 with the estimated prevalence rates showing a downward trend and having very good treatment outcomes in new cases and retreatment cases regardless of the HIV status of the patients [10]. M. tuberculosis infection is the most common cause of human tuberculosis, unknown proportion of cases are due to M. tuberculosis; data on the prevalence of human disease due to M. bovis in Zambia are limited; due to technical problems posed by identification of this species, such as trained personnel and laboratory facilities, only smear microscopy is performed on sputum samples to identify AFB [14]
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