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Tuberculosis in New South Wales
Author(s) -
Plant Aileen J,
Rushworth R Louise,
Wang Qinning,
Thomas Margaret
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1991.tb120989.x
Subject(s) - tuberculosis , medicine , psychological intervention , tuberculosis control , public health , medical diagnosis , disease control , disease , family medicine , environmental health , medical emergency , nursing , pathology
Surveillance of tuberculosis in New South Wales depends on notification of cases by medical practitioners and careful follow‐up by public health nurses dedicated to the control of tuberculosis. Evaluation of tuberculosis surveillance data enables identification of patterns of infection, highlighting areas requiring specific interventions. In 1986, 290 cases of tuberculosis were notified to the Department of Health, New South Wales. The majority of patients (72.8%) were diagnosed as having pulmonary disease. The highest rates of infection were in people from Southeast Asian countries. Whereas 5.2% of cases were identified when the patients entered Australia, a substantial proportion of diagnoses (23.1%) were made in people who had been resident in Australia for 10 or more years. This article highlights the need to continue efforts to improve tuberculosis surveillance and control programmes in New South Wales.