The number of cases of TB infection in residents of a PCT divided by the PCT resident population, multiplied by 100,000 to produce a crude rate per 100,000 people in the population. This is presented as a ‘rate band’. Prior to 2005, rates bands were: <20, 20-39 and 40+ per 100,000. From 2005 onwards, rates bands are: <10, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50+.
During the 1960s and 1970s, tuberculosis (TB) in England came largely under control after centuries of being a major killer. This level of control was lost from the early 1990s onwards when TB re-emerged in this country as a public health problem. Cases began to rise mainly as a result of increased migration of people from areas of the world where TB is more prevalent than it is in England. Ageing of the established population and TB in people with HIV infection made small but important contributions. There is an increasing proportion of TB cases in ethnic minority groups. People from the Indian Subcontinent and Sub Saharan Africa have very high rates of TB. These rates are highest in the few years after they first come to England, but the risk of their developing TB remains higher than average throughout their lives, and extends to their children born in England. Other high risk groups include the homeless and those with HIV infection. The national vaccination programme changed in September 2005 from routine immunisation of schoolchildren without natural immunity to: • All infants (aged 0 to 12 months) living in areas where the incidence of TB is 40 per 100,000 or greater; • All infants (aged 0 to 12 months) with a parent or grandparent who was born in a country where the incidence of TB is 40 per 100,000 or greater.
Legacy unique identifier: P01044