The impact of immigration on tuberculosis rates in the United Kingdom compared with other European countries.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether trends in tuberculosis (TB) rates across Europe are linked to patterns of migration.


METHODS
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 > or =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.
Gilbert
R L
RL
Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK. ruth.gilbert@hpa.org.uk
Antoine
D
D
French
C E
CE
Abubakar
I
I
Watson
J M
JM
Jones
J A
JA
D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*