Tuberculosis remains a public health problem in Romania

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in Romania, which has the highest TB incidence in the European Union.

Methods: We undertook a retrospective study to describe changing trends in the main epidemiological indicators of TB in Romania from 1995 to 2016. Data were obtained from the Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumology, Bucharest, official data published by the National Center for Public Health Statistics and Informatics in Health Statistics Yearbooks, the European Health For All database and the World Health Organization 2017 global TB report.

Results: Overall TB notifications in Romania declined after 2002, from 142.2 to 74/100 000 in 2016. For new TB cases, the incidence declined after 2002, from 118.9 to 54.5/100 000 in 2016. After peaking in 2002, at 23.3/100 000, the notification rate of relapses declined to 11.8/100 000 in 2014, but almost doubled the following year. The number of multidrug-resistant TB cases decreased from 624 in 2009 to 530 in 2012, but then increased to 670 in 2015. The number of extensively drug-resistant TB cases tripled between 2012 and 2015, from 22 to 68 cases.

Conclusion: Although the decline in TB nationwide after 2002 confirms the effectiveness of control measures, the current TB burden in Romania remains very high by European standards.