title: [Tuberculosis annual report 2008--series 2. TB in foreigners].
abstract: Statistics on tuberculosis (TB) in foreigners have been obtained since 1998 in Japan. The number of foreign TB patients increased from 739 in 1998 to 945 in 2008. In contrast, the number of Japanese TB patients decreased during this period and hence the proportion of foreign TB patients increased from 2.1% in 1998 to 3.9% in 2008, excluding those of unknown nationality. Especially, the proportion of those aged 20-29 years increased greatly from 9.1% in 1998 to 26.3% in 2008. Although the number of nationalities was 47, the majority of patients were from China (27.7%), the Philippines (24.8%) and Korea (10.2%) in 2008. The number of foreign TB patients aged 20-29 years was 468, accounting for 49.5% of all foreign TB patients in 2008. Seventy-seven percent of foreign patients aged 20-29 years had developed TB within 5 years of entering Japan. The equivalent proportion was 49% of those aged 30-39 years and 32% of those aged 40-49 years. Regarding occupation, 39.7% of foreign patients aged 20-29 years were full-time workers, 28.6% were students and 13.7% were part-time workers.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult