Tuberculosis - Annual epidemiological report 2014 [2012 data]

In 2012, 68 423 cases of tuberculosis were reported in 29 EU/EEA countries, which was 6% less than in 2011, reflecting a decrease in 19 countries. The EU/EEA notification rate was 13.5 per 100 000 population. Eighty per cent of all notified TB cases were newly diagnosed and 70% of new pulmonary TB cases were culture-confirmed. Twenty-seven per cent of all TB cases were of foreign origin, mostly residing in low-incidence countries.

Adult age groups were equally affected by TB while the notification rate in children under the age of 15 years was 3.6 per 100 0000, consistent with a slightly decreasing long-term trend. Males were over-represented in almost all EU/EEA Member States and in all adult age groups, with the greatest gender imbalance among those aged 45 to 64 years.

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) was reported for 5% of cases with drug susceptibility testing results (3% of new pulmonary TB cases and 19% of previously treated pulmonary cases) and continues to be most prevalent in the three Baltic countries. Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB was reported for 14% of 978 MDR TB cases tested for second-line drug susceptibility.
Five per cent of TB cases with known HIV status were co-infected with the virus. In total, 75% of TB cases notified in 2011, 34% of MDR TB cases notified in 2010 and 25% of XDR TB cases notified in 2009 had successfully completed their treatment. 

The Annual Epidemiological Report

Produced annually, the report is intended for policymakers and health sector leaders, epidemiologists, scientists and the wider public. It is hoped that readers will find it a useful overview and reference to better understand the present situation in relation to communicable diseases in Europe. It should also usefully assist policymakers and health leaders in making evidence-based decisions to plan and improve programmes, services and interventions for preventing, managing and treating these diseases.

In order to facilitate more timely publication, this year’s edition of the Annual Epidemiological Report is being first published a disease group at a time and will later be compiled into one comprehensive report. This report presents the epidemiological situation for respiratory tract infections – tuberculosis as of 2012 and describes the statistical and epidemiological methods used.

New publication format

The Annual Epidemiological Report is a key ECDC publication on the epidemiology of communicable diseases of public health significance in Europe. In order to facilitate more timely publication, this year’s edition of the Annual Epidemiological Report is being first published a disease group at a time and will later be compiled into one comprehensive report.  This report presents the epidemiological situation for tuberculosis as of 2012. Other respiratory tract infections are covered in a separate section of Chapter 2.1