Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious and contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and transmitted through aerosols. Although it is generally curable, it still presents high mortality and remains a serious public health problem. In 2024, the World Health Organization identified TB as the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyze the epidemiological profile and temporal pattern of notified tuberculosis cases in Brazil between 2014 and 2024. A mixed ecological study carried out through the analysis of notified tuberculosis cases in Brazil between 2014 and 2024, obtained from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (Sinan Net), provided by the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS). Data were exported to Microsoft Excel®, and the proportion of cases by sex, skin color, age group, education level, region of residence, clinical form, sputum smear microscopy, and case outcome was calculated. The joinpoint method was used for temporal analysis of notified cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with a significance level of p<0.05. Between 2014 and 2024, 936,333 tuberculosis cases were notified in Brazil. Of these, 69.9% were male, aged 20–29 years (24.3%), of mixed race (53.1%), and with incomplete secondary education (16.5%). Temporal trend analysis showed stability (APC=1.1; 95% CI=-5.7; 8.5; p=0.66) during the analyzed period. The pulmonary form was present in almost all cases (84.9%). Sputum smear microscopy was performed in 68.0% of cases, with 72.4% testing positive. The cure rate was 67.4%. Death occurred in 4.0% of patients, and treatment abandonment occurred in 14.4% of cases. Notified tuberculosis cases predominated among young men of mixed race and with low educational attainment. Stability in case numbers over the period indicates the absence of significant progress in disease control in this population. The high proportion of pulmonary cases, associated with sputum smear positivity, reinforces the importance of early diagnosis and active surveillance. Despite a relatively satisfactory cure rate, abandonment and mortality proportions remain challenges for disease control, highlighting the need for more effective strategies to strengthen therapeutic follow-up and reduce mortality.
Bernardes et al. (Sun,) studied this question.