Abstract: Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in students in Chongqing and provide evidence for the pulmonary TB prevention and control in schools. Methods We collected the pulmonary (PTB) reporting data from the infectious Diseases Reporting System, and refered to the Statistical Yearbooks Chongqing, the total number of students in Chongqing were 5 595 500 in 2009, 5 588 500 in 2010, 5 646 200 in 2011, 6 081 100 in 2012 and 6 128 800 in 2013 respectively. The reported incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis was calculated, statistical analysis was made on the student registration rate, and the situation of the population was described, the Chi-square value was calculated. 0.05 was set as the significance level. Results The total PTB cases of students were 2169 in 2009, 2045 in 2010, 1960 in 2011, 1782 in 2012 and 1777 in 2013 respectively. The smear-positive pulmonary cases of students were 809 in 2009, 806 in 2010, 624 in 2011, 439 in 2012 and 331 in 2013 respectively. The average registration rate of pulmonary TB and smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis among students was 33.52/100 000(9733/29 040 100) and 10.36/100 000(3009/29 040 100) respectively. The proportion of smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis was 57.08%（1238/2169） in 2009, 54.52%（1115/2045） in 2010, 63.42%（1243/1960） in 2011, 71.04%（1266/1782） in 2012 and 78.05%（1387/1777） in 2013 respectively, the proportion rose by year(χ²_trend=280.51，P<0.01). The proportion of health examination was 4.47%（97/2169） in 2009, 6.99%（143/2045） in 2010, 8.01%（157/1960） in 2011, 7.18%（128/1782） in 2012 and 11.25%（200/1777） in 2013 respectively, the proportion rose by year(χ²_trend=53.82，P<0.01). The number of male student PTB were much higher than female(1.24∶1, 5396/4337). Most of them were between 15 and 19 age group,the proportion of PTB dropped in this group was 66.62%（1445/2169） in 2009, 68.26%（1396/2045） in 2010, 67.65%（1326/1960）in 2011, 68.69%（1224/1782） in 2012 and 72.04%（1280/1777） in 2013 respectively, the proportion rose by year(χ²_trend=11.06，P<0.01). The proportion of student PTB peaked in March, which was 21.48%（466/2169） in 2009, 18.63%（381/2045） in 2010, 17.70%（347/1960）in 2011, 23.46%（418/1782） in 2012 and 16.49%（293/1777） in 2013 respectively. The top three school PTB incidence county were Wuxi(137.84/100 000，102/73 999), Pengshui(81.61/100 000，102/124 980), Wulong(64.69/100 000，42/64 925), which were national poverty county.  Conclusion The epidemic situation of tuberculosis in Chongqing city among students is serious. The proportion of student PTB detected by health examination rose by year.The majority are smear negative. More PTB patients were male, mainly detected from the middle and high school. The PTB cases peaks in March, and the national poverty county was more serious.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pulmonary/epidemiology, Students, Chongqing