Trends in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and prevalence of Rifampicin Resistance in Eastern zone, Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. The emergence of Mono or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), poses a considerable challenge to Mycobacterium tuberculosis control programs in the worldwide; however, there has been no reliable and organized data on trends and prevalence drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in study area; Therefore, aim of this study to determine the trends of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and prevalence of Rifampicin resistance in eastern zone, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Methods Hospital based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Adigrat General Hospital from June 01 to August 30, 2019.Data was collected retrospectively from the registration books using data extraction format commence January 01, 2015, December 30, 2018. Data was entered into Epi-Info 3.1 and exported and analyzed using SPSS Version 20. The results were summarized using descriptive statistics, tables, and figures. P values < 0.05 would be considered statistically significant. Result A total of 5,944 Mycobacterium tuberculosis presumptive patients were included in the study. The majority of the study participants were male (58.1%). The median age of the participants was 40.0 (IQR 57, 26) years, the majority age-group was 30-44 years. The overall prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was 1446 (24.3%). Of the total confirmed cases, 132 (9.1%) were resistant to rifampicin. From total Rifampicin resistant 129 (97.7%) new cases and the rest were previously treated tuberculosis patients. Age, reason for diagnosis, site of presumptive tuberculosis, being HIV infected was found a significant association with our dependent variable; however, only Age and being HIV infected associated with rifampicin resistance. Conclusion In our study, the overall trends of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and prevalence of rifampicin resistance were found high and increased; therefore, maximizing early detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and strengthening TB infection control activities and proper implementation of directly observed treatment are recommended reducing the burden of this contagious disease.