Abstract
Incidence rates of pulmonary tuberculosis among immigrants from high incidence countries remain high for at least a decade after immigration into the Netherlands. Possible explanations are reactivation of old infections and infection transmitted after immigration. Control policies should be determined on the basis of the as-yet unknown main causes of the persistent high incidence.
Highlights
Incidence rates of pulmonary tuberculosis among immigrants from high incidence countries remain high for at least a decade after immigration into the Netherlands
We describe patterns of incidence rates of pulmonary tuberculosis in immigrants in the Netherlands according to the length of time since immigration
The Study We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all legal immigrants notified as having pulmonary tuberculosis in the Netherlands between 1996 and 2000; pulmonary tuberculosis referred to any form of active tuberculosis that involved the lungs
Summary
Incidence rates of pulmonary tuberculosis among immigrants from high incidence countries remain high for at least a decade after immigration into the Netherlands. We describe patterns of incidence rates of pulmonary tuberculosis in immigrants in the Netherlands according to the length of time since immigration. Insight in these patterns is needed to evaluate tuberculosis control policies that aim to reduce transmission. Person-years at risk for pulmonary tuberculosis were first calculated separately for both the COA and GBA registers. Incidence rate and relative risk of pulmonary tuberculosis according to time since immigration, country of origin, age, sex, and year of diagnosis for immigrants in the Netherlands, 1996– 2000. 1.00 0.68 (0.57 to 0.81) 0.76 (0.53 to 1.09) 0.74 (0.59 to 0.93) 0.21 (0.16 to 0.26)
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