Volume 17, Number 3—March 2011
Dispatch
Tuberculosis among Foreign-born Persons, Singapore, 2000–2009
Khin Mar Kyi Win
, Cynthia B.E. Chee, Liang Shen, Yee T. Wang, and Jeffery Cutter
, Cynthia B.E. Chee, Liang Shen, Yee T. Wang, and Jeffery CutterTable
Characteristics of native-born and foreign-born persons with TB, Singapore, 2000–2009*
| Characteristic | No. (%) native-born, n = 13,048 | No. (%) foreign-born, n = 5,952 |
|---|---|---|
| Sex | ||
| F | 3,546 (27.2) | 2,731 (45.9) |
| M |
9,502 (72.8) |
3,221 (54.1) |
| Age, y | ||
| Median | 53.2 | 33.8 |
| 0–19 | 516 (4.0) | 149 (2.5) |
| 20–39 | 2,592 (19.9) | 3,503 (58.9) |
| 40–59 | 5,137 (39.4) | 812 (13.6) |
| >60 |
4,803 (36.8) |
1,488 (25.0) |
| Diabetes | ||
| No | 10,282 (78.8) | 5,409 (90.9) |
| Yes |
2,766 (21.2) |
543 (9.1) |
| New case | 11,550 (88.5) | 5,588 (93.9) |
| Re-treated case |
1,498 (11.5) |
364 (6.1) |
| Site of disease | ||
| Pulmonary† | 11,447 (87.7) | 4,832 (81.2) |
| Extrapulmonary |
1,601 (12.3) |
1,120 (18.8) |
| Site of extrapulmonary TB‡ | ||
| Lymph node | 571 (35.7) | 582 (52.0) |
| Pleura | 415 (25.9) | 258 (23.0) |
| Other |
698 (43.6) |
328 (29.3) |
| Sputum smear for AFB | ||
| Negative | 5,744 (44.0) | 2,790 (46.9) |
| Positive | 4,784 (36.7) | 1,532 (25.7) |
| Not determined |
2,520 (19.3) |
1,630 (27.4) |
| Sputum culture for MTC | ||
| Negative | 3,075 (23.6) | 1,819 (30.6) |
| Positive | 8,316 (63.7) | 2,855 (48.0) |
| Not determined |
1,657 (12.7) |
1,278 (21.5) |
| Drug resistance | ||
| MDR§ | 28 (0.3) | 39 (1.4) |
| Isoniazid¶ | 256 (3.1) | 226 (7.9) |
*TB, tuberculosis; AFB, acid-fast bacilli; MTC, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex; MDR, multidrug resistant.
†Includes pulmonary TB cases with extrapulmonary involvement.
‡Pure extrapulmonary and not mutually exclusive.
§Resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin.
¶Includes MDR; resistant to isoniazid alone or isoniazid in combination with any other first-line drugs.
