Nationwide surveillance algorithms for tuberculosis among immigrant workers from highly endemic countries following pre-entry screening in Taiwan

Table 1 The TB incidence among immigrant workers in Taiwan, 2011–2014

Characteristics	Total	Vietnam	Indonesia	Philippines	Thailand	Miscellaneous^e
All types of TB^a	2080	333 (16.0%)	1001 (48.1%)	476 (22.9%)	250 (12.0%)	20 (0.7%)
Female	1246 (59.9%)	139	7400	321	34	12
Male	834 (40.1%)	194	261	155	216	8
Age < 20	12 (0.6%)	10	2	0	0	0
Age 20–49 (female)	2046 (98.3%)	318	999	471	242	16
Age > 49	22 (1.0%)	5	0	5	8	4
Average annual female immigrant worker population	283,291	48,633	165,575	58,425	10,657	–
Average annual male immigrant worker population	194,700	69,239	36,740	34,121	54,597	–
TB incidence for all immigrant workers^b, 10–5/y		70.6	123.6	128.6	95.8
TB incidence for female immigrant workers^b, 10–5/y		71.5	111.7	137.4	79.8
TB incidence for male immigrant workers^b, 10–5/y		70.0	177.0	113.6	98.9
TB RR^c,d female immigrant workers vs. female Taiwanese		2.9	4.5	5.5	3.8
TB RR^c,d of male immigrant workers vs. male Taiwanese		2.2	5.5	3.6	3.1

Values are numbers, except as indicated
^a All types of TB, including 1) smear-positive pulmonary cases, 2) smear-negative pulmonary cases, and 3) extra-pulmonary cases.
^b TB incidence for female/male immigrant workers: TB cases at 0–30 months post-entry/number of immigrants.
^c TB risk for Taiwanese females: 25 per 10⁵-y in 2011–2014; TB risk for Taiwanese males: 32 per 10⁵-y in 2011–2014.
^d TB RR: TB risk ratio (or TB relative risk) for calculating the respective TB risks of female or male immigrant workers vs. those of female or male Taiwanese
^e Miscellaneous: Malaysia (0.1%), Mongolia (0.1%), and countries of origin not specified (0.7%).

ISSN: 1471-2458