Prevalence of suspected tuberculosis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia according to conventional and molecular methods

BACKGROUND: Although the prevalence of suspected tuberculosis (TB) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains high, there has been a modest decrease in recent years. In this multi-center cross-sectional study, the prevalence of TB was determined by various techniques with the aim of identifying differences and indicating where there is uniformity in findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 3404 samples were collected from Saudi TB patients from different regions in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Hail, Qassim, Jazan, and Taif. Different techniques including Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN), Mycobacteria growth indicator tube (MGiT), Lowenstein–Jensen (LJ), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to screen for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). RESULTS: ZN stain showed that Riyadh and Dammam had the highest prevalence of MTB with 22% and 21%, respectively, while prevalence was lowest in Jazan and Hail with an incidence of 2% and 3%, respectively. MGiT culture showed that Riyadh, Dammam, and Jeddah had the highest prevalence with a rate of 26%, 22%, and 22%, respectively. LJ culture showed the highest prevalence in Riyadh and Dammam with 22% and 21%, respectively. Of all the techniques, the highest detection rate was by PCR which was 10.46% while ZN stain technique was 6.64%, for MGiT culture it was 8.34%, and for LJ culture it was 7.7%. CONCLUSION: This study is the first in which different methods have been used for detection in the various regions of Saudi Arabia. Collected data are important not only for patients and physicians but for future epidemiological studies to monitor the spread of MTB infection in Saudi Arabia.