RESEARCH ARTICLE


Low Body Mass Index and Trends of Tuberculosis Infection: A Cohort Study of Orphan Children in Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan



A. Rauf1, M.S. Nadeem2, M. Khalid3, S.A. Kazmi4, K. Muhammad5, *, S.T. Kyani1, O. Baothman2, B.N. Murtaza6
1 Department of Zoology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Biotechnology, Women University Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan
4 Department of Biotechnology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan
5 Department of Genetics, Hazara University, Mansehra 21300, Pakistan
6 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kinnaird College for Women, 93-Jail Road Lahore 54000, Pakistan


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Creative Commons License
© 2018 Rauf et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to the author at the Hazara University, Department of Genetics, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan, Tel: +92-997-414145, Fax: +92-997-414111; E-mail: khushisbs@yahoo.com


Abstract

Background:

The tuberculosis is one the most life-threatening poverty associate diseases affecting one-third of the world population. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the trends of tuberculosis infection, and general health conditions of orphan children in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan.

Methods:

Total 1708 children have enrolled in this a longitudinal study and were screened for tuberculosis through sputum smear and PCR tests. Body Mass Index (BMI), exposure to tuberculosis risk factors was also analyzed for all participants.

Results:

In 2011, the prevalence of tuberculosis was 3.41%, 1.36%, which was among male and 2.05% among female children. In 2015, we found 1.95% positive tuberculosis cases including 1.12% females and 0.83% males. A significant overall decline in tuberculosis infection was found in four years, p < 0.01. The mean BMI value for male and female children was 21.70 (SD±0.68) and 17.53 (SD±0.72), respectively.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, malnutrition, unhygienic and crowded living conditions are strong factors contributing to TB infection and serious threat to the orphan children, especially for the females.

Keywords: Neglected children, Low BMI, TB infection, Kashmir, Sputum smear test, PCR test.