Introduction:

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a global public health problem; its pathogenesis develops mainly in the lung, but can affect other organs such as the kidneys, brain, spine and skin; the objective was to determine antimicrobial sensitivity by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for TB, nested in a medium-complexity hospital in Colombia.

Materials and methods.

A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on cases detected with tuberculosis in the period between January and August 2023. The tools used were hospital validation databases, as well as the follow-up book and manual report of the area from which the results were obtained, which were analyzed.

Results:

There were 205 patients with suspected infection by the M. tuberculosis complex, of which 45 positive samples with a sensitivity profile. The mean age was 49,2 years (SD ± 21,90) (95% CI: 42,8-55,6), and males were the most common gender, representing 60.0%. The samples analyzed were sputum (82,2%), secretions (non-sputum, such as abscesses and wounds) (6,67%), gastric fluid (4,4%), and endotracheal tube (2,2%). Stratified analysis by sample revealed rifampicin susceptibility of 77,7%; the highest risk factor was smokers or psychoactive drug users (11,0%).

Discussion:

Nested PCR diagnosis identified susceptible tuberculosis in the majority of patients. Cigarette smoking, psychoactive drug use, and exposure to biomass generate a high predisposition to tuberculosis; these data call for its implementation.