Almost 1000 cases of TB were reported in England in the last three months of last year, according to figures from PHE.
The national quarterly report on TB shows that in the last quarter of 2020 (1 October to 31 December), 994 people were notified with TB in England. This is a 10.1 per cent decrease on the same quarter in 2019 (1106).
The greatest increase in notifications was in the North West, South East and North East PHE Centres. Yorkshire and The Humber had the largest decline (43.6%), whilst London had the smallest decline in numbers (7.8%).
Compared with Q4 2019 (804), in Q4 2020 (705), there was a 12.3 per cent decrease in the number of notifications in people who were born outside the UK. Similarly, the number born in the UK decreased in the same time period – 276 in Q4 2019 vs 258 in Q4 2020: −6.5%.
In Q4 2020, pulmonary TB accounted for 49.9 per cent of all cases vs 55.2 per cent in Q4 2019.
Among people with pulmonary TB, the proportion who were culture-confirmed decreased slightly between Q3 of 2019 and Q3 2020 (75.2% vs 73.2%, respectively). The proportion with culture-confirmed extra-pulmonary TB increased over the same time period (43.9% vs 51.2%).
Eleven confirmed cases of multidrug-/rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) were notified in Q4 2020. Overall, there were 53 people with MDR/RR-TB in 2020 compared with 52 in the previous year. PHE states that the numbers may increase as final results for cultures in the most recent quarters may not yet be available.
In Q4 2020, almost two-thirds of people with pulmonary TB started treatment within four months of symptom onset, but this proportion will likely increase as some people in the most recent quarter are yet to begin treatment.
