Introduction: The World Health Organization recommended strategy for global tuberculosis control is a short-course, clinically administered treatment, This approach has approximately 70% coverage in Colombia.
Objective: The clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics along with drug therapy outcomes were described in newly diagnosed, pulmonary tuberculosis patients.
Materials and methods: This was a descriptive study, conducted as part of a multicenter clinical trial of tuberculosis treatment. A cohort of 106 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were recruited from several public health facilities in Cali between April 2005 and June 2006. Sputum smear microscopy, culture, drug susceptibility tests to first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs, chest X- ray and HIV-ELISA were performed. Clinical and epidemiological information was collected for each participant. Treatment was administered by the local tuberculosis health facility. Food and transportation incentives were provided during a 30 month follow-up period.
Results: The majority of patients were young males with a diagnostic delay longer than 9 weeks and a high sputum smear grade (2+ or 3+). The initial drug resistance was 7.5% for single drug treatment and 1.9% for multidrug treatments. The incidence of adverse events associated with treatment was 8.5%. HIV co-infection was present in 5.7% of the cases. Eighty-six percent of the patients completed the treatment and were considered cured. The radiographic presentation varied within a broad range and differed from the classic progression to cavity formation.
Conclusion: Delay in tuberculosis diagnosis was identified as a risk factor for treatment compliance failure. The study population had similar baseline epidemiologic characteristics to those described in other cohort studies.