[Tuberculosis Annual Report 2012. (1). Summary of tuberculosis notification statistics and foreign-born tuberculosis patients].

This brief summary report is the first of a series of reports based on the Tuberculosis Annual Report 2012. It includes a summary of tuberculosis (TB) statistics, and an overview of foreign-born TB patients notified and registered in 2012 in Japan. A total of 21,283 patients with all forms of TB were notified in 2012, a rate of 16.7 per 100,000 population. Since 2000, the TB notification rates continued to decline until 2012. A total of 8,237 sputum-smear positive pulmonary TB patients were notified in 2012, a rate of 6.5 per 100,000 population. The number of patients with latent TB infection drastically increased from 4,930 in 2010 to 10,046 in 2011, and declined to 8,771 in 2012. The number of foreign-born TB patients increased from 739 in 1998 to 1,069 in 2012. These patients accounted for 2.1% of all new TB patients in 1998, and this percentage increased to 5.2% in 2012. New foreign-born TB patients aged 20-29 years accounted for 37.0% of all new TB patients of the same age group in 2012. Among the foreign-born TB patients, more than half were from China (27.5%) and the Philippines (27.1%). In most cases, foreign-born TB patients entered Japan within 5 years, including 66.7% of those aged 10-19 years, and 57.9% of those aged 20-29 years. These foreign-born TB patients were largely regular employees (28%) other than service workers, health care workers, and teachers, followed by unemployed persons (21%) and students (20%). With an increase in the number of immigrants in Japan, the proportion of foreign-born TB patients is also expected to increase, particularly that of young adults and those from countries with a high TB burden. Comprehensive programs are required to ensure that these patients adhere to their anti-TB treatment.