Objective   To understand the epidemiological characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in schools in Guizhou province and provide reference for optimizing the TB prevention and control strategy in schools.

  Methods   The medical record information of pulmonary TB cases in students and teachers in Guizhou from 2011 to 2019 were collected from the Tuberculosis Information Management System for a retrospective analysis.

  Results   A total of 29 596 pulmonary TB cases in students and 2 470 pulmonary TB cases in teachers were registered in Guizhou from 2011 to 2019. The registration rate in students increased, while the registration rate in teachers decreased with year. But the average annual registration rate in teachers (57.15/100 000) was higher than that in students (36.55/100 000)（χ²=464.174, P＜0.05）. The school pulmonary TB cases mainly occurred during March - May, most pulmonary TB cases in students were aged 15–19 years. The average annual registration rate was higher in males than in females in both teachers and students. The registration rate in both boy students and girl students increased. In teachers, the registration rate in men decreased, but there was no significant change in women. The registration rates of TB cases in both teachers and students were highest in Bijie. Passive detection was the main way of case finding and the cases found in physical examination increased. The overall medical care seeking delay rate was 54.76%, and it was higher in females, teachers, passively detected and retreated patients.

  Conclusion   The prevention and control of pulmonary TB in schools is a priority of TB prevention and control in Guizhou. Close attention needs to be paid to the pulmonary TB cases in teachers to reduce the source of infection. It is of great significance to increase investment to ensure health education, physical health examination in schools, including routine and freshmen examinations, and close contact screening to improve the active and early detection of TB cases.