Analysis of the epidemiology of tuberculosis in Japan from 2008 to 2012

CHEN Jun-hua; HUANG Gu-sun; CHEN Hong-hui

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2016.01.009

Abstract：Objective To analyze the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Japan to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of TB in China. Methods Epidemic data of tuberculosis in Japan from 2008 to 2012 were downloaded from the official website of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, and analyzed by descriptive epidemiological method. Results From 2008 to 2012, a total of 116 155 new TB patients were registered, with an average annual incidence rate of 18.2/100 thousand. The incidence rate increased with age, but most foreign patients were at the age of 20-49 years old. A total of 45 394 TB patients were sputum smear positive, with an average annual incidence rate of 7.1/100 thousand. A total of 10 784 patients died of TB, with an average annual mortality rate of 1.7/100 thousand; among them, 9573 died of pulmonary TB, with an average annual mortality rate of 1.5/100 thousand. Totally 222 episodes of collective infection of TB occurred in 298 public places. The ratio of newly registered latent TB patients to the newly registered TB patients was 0.2:1-0.4:1 in the same year. Conclusions Japan has made remarkable achievements in prevention and treatment of TB, however, the problems such as population aging, increased number of immigrant TB patients and occurrence of collective infection of TB, have an influence on TB incidence and mortality. These new problems need to be paid much attention to in the prevention and treatment of TB in China.