EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS IN JEDDAH REGION, SAUDI-ARABIA

Objective: To describe the present situation and pattern of tuberculos is in the Jeddah region. Design: A retrospective analysis of the recor ds of Jeddah Chest Disease Center for the lunar year 1410 H (4 August 1989 to 22 July 1990). Setting: The Chest Disease Center in Jeddah whi ch receives self-presented and referred chest cases from health centre s and hospitals in the region. The catchment area for the centre inclu des Jeddah city and the surrounding rural and urban villages. Material and methods: All the records for the year were reviewed and frequency tables of newly diagnosed pulmonary and extrapulmonary cases by age, sex, nationality and districts were extracted. The population strata o f Jeddah region were used as a denominator in calculating the incidenc e rates. Results: The incidence in the region (63.4 per 100 000, n=539 ) was higher than that for the whole country for the same year and the highest peak was seen in the pilgrimage season. Only 7.6% of the case s were extrapulmonary. The highest rates were among the elderly, while children had the lowest rate presumably due to the compulsory BCG pro gram practised in Saudi Arabia. The incidence in males was nearly twic e that of females and Saudis formed 36.5% of all cases. SubSaharan Afr icans and Yemenis were the most affected groups of the non-Saudis and the disease incidence was higher in certain low class districts in the city than in the remaining areas. Conclusion: The incidence of tuberc ulosis in Saudi Arabia is on the decline. However, for a city like Jed dah which is characterized by a continuous influx of expatriates, pilg rims and visitors to the two nearby holy cities, the bulk of whom are from countries and regions in the world with high prevalence, tubercul osis will continue to represent a public health problem unless well-pl anned preventive measures are effectively targeted and applied to the high risk groups.