Extrapulmonary tuberculosis by nationality, The Netherlands, 1993-2001

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 12; no. 9; pp. 1375 - 1382
• Main Authors: te Beek, Lowieke A M, van der Werf, Marieke J, Richter, Clemens, Borgdorff, Martien W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-09-2006; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Africa; Aged; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - epidemiology; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - ethnology; Asia; epidemiology; Ethnic Groups; Female; Health aspects; HIV Infections - complications; Humans; lymph node tuberculosis; Male; Middle Aged; Morocco; nationality; Netherlands - epidemiology; Netherlands - ethnology; pleural tuberculosis; Public health; Registries; Somalia; Surveys; the Netherlands; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis - classification; Tuberculosis - epidemiology; Tuberculosis - ethnology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - ethnology; Somalia; Netherlands; Morocco; Asia; Africa
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid1209.050553

This study describes the epidemiology of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in the Netherlands from 1993 through 2001. We assessed whether the increasing numbers of inhabitants with a non-Western ethnic background had an effect on the number of extrapulmonary patients. We used data from the Netherlands Tuberculosis Register and included all cases of TB diagnosed in the Netherlands between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 2001. Information on age, sex, nationality, year of diagnosis, culture result, anatomic location of the site of disease, and HIV status was retrieved from the register. Of 13,258 patients with TB, 8216 (62%) had pulmonary TB, and 5042 (38%) had extrapulmonary TB. Non-Dutch nationals were more likely to have most types of extrapulmonary TB. The growth of the number of inhabitants with a non-Western ethnic background in the Netherlands explains the proportional growth of extrapulmonary TB. Physicians need to be aware of the changing clinical picture of TB.