TB IN CHILDREN IN BIRMINGHAM 2001 2005

Summary

·               A total of 240 cases of TB were found in children aged 0-18y from 2001-2005

·               The vast majority of TB cases were in children from ethnic groups where TB rates are known to be higher.

·               The distribution of TB in this age group mirrors that seen in the general population: mainly living in the inner city wards and in those where particular ethnic groups predominate

·               It is likely that cases acquired TB in the UK, as relatively few were born outside the UK

·               Very few cases of TB in children were white

·               The figures support putting increased effort into ensuring that those groups at higher risk of TB are offered BCG vaccination as early in their life as possible.

Detail

The number of cases of tuberculosis in children aged 0-18y in Birmingham has ranged between 37 and 56 cases per year recently (fig 1).  The number of cases notified in 2005 was the lowest figure for the past five years.  The proportion of cases born in the UK has generally been in the majority.  However in 2005 the number born in the UK almost equalled the number born outside the UK.

The vast majority of cases were from ethnic groups who are covered by the targeted BCG programme. 

The age distribution varies to some extent between ethnic groups (fig 2).  On average, one in five cases were in preschool aged children.  Only 21 cases in five years were in white children and only 8 of these were in school aged children.

In 2004 or 2005, 66 children who were born in the UK had TB (fig 3).  Again the vast majority were in ethnic groups where TB prevalence is known to be higher.

For those children born outside the UK, countries of origin are those were TB prevalence is higher (fig 4).  The 13 cases from Holland were predominately from families who were originally from Somalia.

Rates of TB in those aged 0-18y were much higher in the inner city wards and reflect the rates of TB in the Birmingham population as a whole.

Cases of TB in young people by ethnic group tend also to mirror to some extent the ethnic group distribution in Birmingham as a whole.  For example, many of the cases of Afro-Caribbean origin were found in the Handsworth/Aston area, whereas the cases of Pakistani origin were found more in Small Heath/Sparkbrook.