Tuberculosis - Frequency of Hospitalization Episodes in Romania, 2015-2019

Abstract

Tuberculosis, being one of the top ten causes of death in the world and the leading cause of death from an infectious disease, overcoming HIV/AIDS, is one of the most serious public health problems facing countries in the Southeast Asia region, Africa, but also the Western Pacific Region. Europe is no exception, being affected especially the Eastern European region, here being increased the frequency of cases of multidrug resistant tuberculosis, and Romania is among the group of countries most affected by this scourge, although it has decreased in 2009-2017. The evolution in the last 5 years of hospitalization episodes was a decreasing one, the data analysis indicating a preponderant impairment of men, from professionally active age groups (predominantly people between 40-69 years), the most common location of the infection being the lung or at the airway. Most often the population in poorer areas was more affected (Southwest, South or Northeast region). The average period of hospitalization was a long one (more than a month), and most often it ended with the improvement of patients', the cases of aggravation or death being reduced, death for example being observed especially in case of infection located to nervous system or in the case of miliary tuberculosis.