The burden of Tuberculosis in a low-incidence territory: contribution of foreign population in the disease epidemiology

Tuberculosis (TB) still represents one of the most important causes of death worldwide. In Italy, TB is a relatively rare disease. This research aimed to evaluate the TB cases reported in the provincial territory of Messina, Italy, in order to assess the contribution of the different groups of the local population. We conducted a review of existing epidemiological data evaluating the trend of all TB notifications reported from 2001 to 2019. For the collection of the data, all the notifications were evaluated by analyzing the local and national computerized records. From 2001 to 2019, 475 cases of TB were notified, 67.6% in Italian citizens and 32.4% in foreigners of which 75.3% resident and 24.7% irregularly residing (i.e., migrants landed in essina). The incidence rate was remarkably higher in foreigners compared to Italian citizens, with average values of 31.7 and 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants respectively. The average age was 48.4 years in Italian citizens, 32.7 years in resident foreigners and 19.6 years in irregularly residing foreigners.In the epidemiology and maintenance of TB in our territory, the incidence of TB in foreigners surely played an important role. However, the incidence in Italian citizens remained stably low for all of the period considered, showing that there seems to be no immediate danger of spreading the infection