Abstract:
Objective:
To compare the number of patients with pre-
sumptive tuberculosis (TB), the number of patients regis-
tered with TB (including testing for the human immuno-
deficiency virus [HIV] and initiation on antiretroviral
therapy [ART]) and treatment outcomes during the
pre-Ebola, Ebola and post-Ebola disease outbreak periods
between 2013 and 2016.
Design:
This was a cross-sectional study and retrospec-
tive cohort analysis of treatment outcomes.
Results:
The mean monthly number of patients with pre-
sumptive TB before, during and post-Ebola was respec-
tively 169, 145 and 210. The mean monthly number of
registered TB cases was respectively 57, 57 and 96.
Smear-positive TB was the most frequent type of TB, at
75%, 66% and 77%. The proportion of TB patients
tested for HIV was 82% pre-Ebola, 74% Ebola and 99%
post-Ebola. The proportion of HIV-positive patients with
TB initiated on ART was respectively 46%, 85% and
100%. Treatment success among TB patients was 71% in
the pre-Ebola period and 89% in the Ebola period (
P
0.001).
Conclusion:
During the Ebola outbreak, there were de-
creases in the number of presumptive TB patients and in
the proportions of patients diagnosed with smear-posi-
tive TB and tested for HIV. The initiation of ART in HIV-in-
fected TB patients and treatment outcomes remained ac-
ceptable. Pre-emptive actions are needed to maintain
adequate control activities in future outbreaks.
