Abstract
Tuberculosis is an ancient infectious disease that remains a threat to public health around the world. It is a contagious airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. In high tuberculosis burden countries, the prevalence of tuberculosis was 10-fold higher in the HIV-infected mothers than that in those not infected with HIV. However, little is known about the burden of tuberculosis (TB) and associated factors in women of reproductive age in most resource poor countries. Therefore, this study aims to investigate prevalence of smear-positive TB and factors associated in pregnant women attending antenatal care in North West, Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in three governmental hospitals of the North Gondar Zone, and a total of 1272 pregnant women attending antenatal care were included. Data were collected by trained personnel's using a pretested and structured symptom screening questionnaire; then, spot-morning-spot sputum samples were collected from those pregnant women who had two or more weeks of cough, and sputum smear was done by using a light-emitted diode fluorescent microscope. 99% of the pregnant women visited the hospitals for antenatal care. The prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis was 864/100,000 population, and HIV positivity (AOR = 7.24; 95% CI: (2.01–26.03)), urban residence (AOR = 2.28; 95% CI: (1.419–3.158)), and family history of TB (AOR = 2.12; 95% CI: (1.371–3.451)) were significantly associated with smear-positive tuberculosis. In this study, the prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis was found to be higher than that in other community-based studies in the country. Therefore, health education, targeted screening of pregnant women for TB, and collaboration of TB-HIV clinic with antenatal care clinic should be implemented in the area. Further research should also be conducted for better understanding of the magnitude of tuberculosis in females of reproductive age.
Highlights
Tuberculosis is an ancient infectious disease that remains a threat to public health around the world [1]
The rate of active tuberculosis ranges from 0.7% to 7.9% among HIV-positive women and is as high as 11% if they are positive for tuberculin skin test [3, 4]
There is limited information on the prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis and associated risk factors which contribute to the burden of tuberculosis in pregnant women of Ethiopia. erefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of smearpositive tuberculosis and associated risk factors among pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinics of North Gondar Zone Hospitals in Ethiopia
Summary
Tuberculosis is an ancient infectious disease that remains a threat to public health around the world [1]. According to the recent WHO report, TB is the greatest cause of death of people living with HIV and ranks alongside HIV as a top infectious disease killer. Tuberculosis is most common during the woman’s reproductive years and is a major cause of maternal child mortality [3]. In pregnant women living with HIV, increase in the risk of maternal and infant mortality by tuberculosis is almost 300% [2]. The rate of active tuberculosis ranges from 0.7% to 7.9% among HIV-positive women and is as high as 11% if they are positive for tuberculin skin test [3, 4].
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