Eman K U, Kazi G N, Qin Z Z, Creswell J, Raisani S A, Lodhi U R, Vasquez N A, John S
Dopasi Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Stop TB Partnership, Geneva, Switzerland.
Public Health Action. 2025 Sep 3;15(3):129-134. doi: 10.5588/pha.25.0011. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Five major coal mining districts in Balochistan, Pakistan.
To assess burden of TB among coal miners and their associated communities and establish linkages with TB care services.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to find TB cases through active case finding. The target population included people working at coal mining sites and surrounding communities residing within 10 km, including coal miners' families and other individuals. Verbal symptom screening was carried out via mobile camps and community outreach. Sputum was collected from screened positive individuals and tested for TB on GeneXpert. TB cases diagnosed were linked with TB care services.
A total of 14,541 individuals including 8,149 (56%) coal miners were screened. Of the people screened, 81% were male, median age was 31 years, 2,274 (15.6%) had TB symptoms, and 34 confirmed TB cases were diagnosed. All 34 TB patients were linked to care and 32 completed treatments successfully. The estimated TB prevalence was 234 cases per 100,000 population (95% confidence interval: 150.6-316.5), with no significant difference between coal miners and associated communities.
Similar TB prevalence among coal miners and associated communities reflects shared vulnerability. Use of more sensitive screening tools is recommended to validate prevalence estimates in future studies.
巴基斯坦俾路支省的五个主要煤矿区。
评估煤矿工人及其相关社区的结核病负担，并与结核病防治服务建立联系。
开展一项横断面研究，通过主动病例发现来查找结核病病例。目标人群包括在煤矿工作的人员以及居住在煤矿周边10公里范围内的社区居民，包括煤矿工人家属和其他人员。通过流动营地和社区外展活动进行口头症状筛查。从筛查呈阳性的个体中采集痰液，并使用GeneXpert进行结核病检测。确诊的结核病病例与结核病防治服务建立联系。
共筛查了14,541人，其中包括8,149名（56%）煤矿工人。在接受筛查的人群中，81%为男性，中位年龄为31岁，2,274人（15.6%）有结核病症状，确诊了34例结核病病例。所有34例结核病患者均与治疗建立了联系，32例成功完成治疗。估计结核病患病率为每10万人234例（95%置信区间：150.6 - 316.5），煤矿工人和相关社区之间无显著差异。
煤矿工人和相关社区的结核病患病率相似，反映了共同的易感性。建议在未来研究中使用更敏感的筛查工具来验证患病率估计值。
