Summary
From September 1996 to June 1997, in an area bordering East London, we prospectively collected epidemiological, clinical and microbiological data on all patients with newly diagnosed culture-positive tuberculosis and compared these to national data based on notifications. The significant differences were that tuberculosis was diagnoses almost exclusively in non-Caucasian patients (42/47 [89%]) and that there was a high percentage of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (27/47 [57%]) including four cases of tuberculous meningitis and five cases of osteomyelitis. We also observed that 19/27 (70%) of patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis had normal chest X-rays, 3/17 (18%) sub-Saharan Africans were HIV antibody-positive and drug resistance strains were isolated from sic sub-Saharan Africans and one Caucasian. Figures for treatment failures and mortality compared favorably to national averages at 6 months. National data do not accurately reflect local epidemiology and clinical presentations. Hospital-based surveillance and promoting awareness of local differences is essential to prevent delayed diagnosis, inappropriate management and poor clinical outcome.
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Received: December 7, 1999 · Accepted: January 11, 2000
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Melzer, M., Storring, R. & Bagg, L. Tuberculosis in an Area Bordering East London: Significant Local Variations when Compared to National Data. Infection 28, 103–105 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s150100050055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s150100050055