title: Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2010.
abstract: The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System received 1,353 tuberculosis (TB) notifications in 2010, representing a rate of 6.1 cases per 100,000 population. While rates of 5 to 6 cases per 100,000 population for TB have been maintained in Australia, since first achieved in the mid-1980s, there has been a steady increase in incidence over the past decade. The incidence in the Australian-born Indigenous population was 7.5 per 100,000 population, which is 11 times the incidence reported in the Australian-born non-Indigenous population of 0.7 per 100,000 population. Overseas-born people accounted for 90% of all cases notified in 2010 and represented a rate of 24 per 100,000 population. International students have been recognised as an increasingly important group, representing 25% of all overseas-born cases notified in 2010, and are a focus of this report. Household or other close contact with TB or past residence in a high risk country were the most commonly reported risk factors for TB infection. Outcome data for the 2009 TB cohort indicate that treatment success was attained in more than 95% of cases. As Australia continues to contribute to global TB control it is important to maintain good centralised national reporting of TB to identify populations at risk and monitor trends in TB.
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Preventable Diseases Surveillance Section, Health Emergency Management Branch, Office of Health Protection, Department of Health, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bareja
authors.affiliation: Western Australian Tuberculosis Control Program, Department of Health, Perth, Western Australia.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waring
authors.affiliation: South Australian Tuberculosis Services, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stapledon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D060085:Coinfection; D018563:Disease Notification; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult