Nowadays in the world, tuberculosis is the second largest killer of adults after HIV. Due to the location of presidios that is mostly located in hazardous zones soldiers and army personnel are considered high risk, therefore we decided to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis status in this group of people. This was a cross-sectional descriptive research that studied the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in soldiers and military personnel in the last 15 years in tuberculosis and lung disease research center at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The statistical population consisted of all the soldiers and military personnel. The detection method in this study was based on microscopic examination following Ziehl-Neelsen Stain and in Leuven Stein Johnson culturing. Descriptive statistics was used for statistical analysis and statistical values less than 0.05 were considered significant. By review information in this center since the 1988-2013 with 72 military personnel suffering from tuberculosis, it was revealed that among them 30 women, 42 men, 14 soldiers, 29 family members, and 29 military personnel are pointed. A significant correlation was found between TB rates among military personnel and their families. Although in recent years, the national statistics indicate a decline of tuberculosis, but the results of our study showed that TB is still a serious disease that must comply with the first symptoms of tuberculosis in military personnel and their families that should be diagnosed as soon as possible.
Keywords: Iran; Military personnel; Prevalence; Tuberculosis.