Assessment of Timeliness of Tuberculosis Detection among Foreign Citizens in Novosibirsk Oblast

Abstract

The objective: assessment of timeliness and efficiency of organization of TB diagnostics among foreign citizens in Novosibirsk Oblast during the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictive measures.Subjects and Methods. A retrospective descriptive cohort study was conducted, it included foreign citizens above 18 years old diagnosed with tuberculosis and detected in 2018-2021. Totally 348 patients were enrolled in the study: 192 patients detected in 2018-2019 and 156 patients detected in 2020-2021.Results. In the short-term assessment, the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant impact on the organization of detection of tuberculosis in foreign citizens in Novosibirsk Oblast, although there is a significant increase in the number of untimely detected patients with destruction. Nevertheless, the currently existing procedure for diagnostics of tuberculosis among foreign citizens requires significant improvement. Thus, coverage with preventive examinations concerns mainly legal labor migrants, while illegally working foreign citizens remain uncovered by screening for tuberculosis. When diagnosing tuberculosis, the minimum required laboratory tests are used which do not allow verifying the diagnosis bacteriologically and assessing drug susceptibility.

Keywords

• туберкулез легких
• иностранные граждане
• диагностика туберкулеза