• M Taylan, S Dogru, C Sezgi, and S Yilmaz.
• Department of Chest Disease, Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey.
• Niger J Clin Pract. 2023 Jul 1; 26 (7): 928933928-933.

BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is an important public health issue. Determining TB trend and seasonal variability provides useful information for designing treatment strategies and control programs.AimThe present study attempts to investigate the epidemiological trend and the seasonal variations.Materials And MethodsTB data containing 2450 cases were collected over a period of seven years in the province of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey. Trend function and seasonal variability were investigated by statistical curve fitting, surface fitting, and autoregressive time series analysis.ResultsThe study revealed a gradually decreasing trend in the number of TB cases over a period of seven years. Total TB incidence had seasonal variations (P = 0.04); there was a greater number of TB cases between April and July, with a peak in June. There were significant monthly seasonal variations with June peaks among females (P < 0.001), in patients in the age groups of 0-15 (P < 0.001) and 36-45 years (P < 0.001), in new cases (P < 0.001) and in the patients with pulmonary TB (P = 0.01). The extra-pulmonary TB cases peak in May (P = 0.01). Pulmonary TB and TB patients in the 36-45 age group had summer peak, while the other groups peaked at spring.ConclusionsSpring and summer peaks detected in total TB cases and in many subgroups indicate that multicenter and comprehensive clinical studies are needed to explain these variations.

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