Abstract:

Objective: To analyze causes of pulmonary tuberculosis cluster epidemics in a university, to provide effective reference for tuberculosis prevention and control in universities. Methods: Retrospective descriptive analysis was used to analyze tuberculosis archives of a university from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2023, by sorting out epidemiology, contact screening, clinical characteristics and treatment status of patients, prevention and control measures, and other data of 5 pulmonary tuberculosis cluster epidemics. Then based on laboratory examination results, the chains of transmission, sources of infection and causes of epidemic were analyzed. Results: All 5 cluster epidemics were found by screening contacts of patients who sought medical treatment due to illness, 4 occurred in 2014 to 2018, 1 occurred in 2022, concentrated in the second and third years of college and in the middle of a semester. Among the 23 patients associated with the 5 cluster epidemics, 91.30% (21/23) were campus students and 8.70% (2/23) were off-campus family members; 95.65% (22/23) were male students. Of the 21 campus patients, 38.10% (8/21) were etiologically positive, and 52.38% (11/21) had symptoms. Of the 11 patients with symptoms, 8 (72.72%) actively sought medical treatment, of which 6 were delayed in healthcare-seeking and 4 were delayed in diagnosis; among the 4 patients with delay in diagnosis, 3 cases were misdiagnosed and 1 case was not reported. Sixteen patients were detected by screening, all of them were close contact students, and the patient detection rate among close contacts was 3.50% (16/457). Conclusion: Universities are prone to pulmonary tuberculosis cluster epidemics, delay in healthcare-seeking, patients not seeking medical care, misdiagnosis and underreporting in non-tuberculosis-designated medical institutions are the main causes.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pulmonary, Disease outbreak, Colleges and universities