The impact of immigration on tuberculosis rates in the United Kingdom compared with other European countries

• Published in: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease Vol. 13; no. 5; pp. 645 - 651
• Main Authors: GILBERT, R. L, ANTOINE, D, FRENCH, C. E, ABUBAKAR, I, WATSON, J. M, JONES, J. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris, France IUATLD 01.05.2009; International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Subjects: Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Emigration and Immigration - statistics & numerical data; England - epidemiology; Europe; Europe - epidemiology; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; immigration; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Morbidity - trends; Mycobacterium; Pneumology; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Retrospective Studies; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis - epidemiology; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; United Kingdom; Europe; England; Sweden; Norway; British Isles; Human; Respiratory disease; Countries; Rate; Europe; Mycobacterial infection; European; Infection; Tuberculosis; Bacteriosis; Immigration; Comparative study; Pneumology
• ISSN: 1027-3719; 1815-7920

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether trends in tuberculosis (TB) rates across Europe are linked to patterns of migration.DESIGN: Descriptive analysis of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development population statistics and EuroTB data for 21 European countries for 1996-2005.RESULTS: TB notification rates increased in only three of the 21 countries: the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden. In all three countries, approximately three quarters of cases were foreign-born. The UK had the third highest number of foreign nationals overall, but the highest number from a country with a TB incidence ≥250 cases/100000 (219000, 13%). European countries with declining TB rates had varying patterns of migration, but did not generally receive migrants from very high-incidence countries and/or had a smaller proportion of their total TB cases in their migrant population.CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the rate of TB in the UK, which contrasts with most other European countries, may, at least in part, be due to the fact that a high proportion of UK cases occur in the foreign-born, coupled with a comparatively large number of foreign nationals from countries with a very high incidence of TB.