Epidemiology

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year an estimated 10 million people develop TB, and there are an estimated 1.5 million TB-related deaths.[1] In 2020, disruption caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in a large global decrease in the number of reported new cases; however, the number of reported cases has increased again. WHO estimates that in 2022 there were 1.3 million TB-related deaths, including 167,000 TB-related deaths among people with HIV.[2] The majority of deaths (81% of HIV-negative and HIV-positive TB deaths) were in the WHO African Region and South-East Asia Region.[2] TB is particularly devastating in areas with high prevalence of HIV infection.[3] The Global Burden of Disease Study reports that in 2019, there were 217,000 (153,000 to 279,000) deaths due to TB among people with HIV and 1.15 million (1.01 to 1.32) incident cases.[4]

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 13 million people have latent TB infection.[5] In line with global trends, rates of reported active TB infection decreased in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have since increased to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, 9615 cases of TB were provisionally reported in the US, an incidence rate of 2.9 cases per 100,000 people, which is an increase from 2022 (8320 reported cases and a rate of 2.5 per 100,000) and from 2019 (8895 reported cases and a rate of 2.7 per 100,000).[6][7] ​​The TB case rate in 2023 was 0.8 per 100,000 for US-born people and 15 for non-US-born people, with 76% of TB cases occurring among non-US-born persons.[6]​​

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