Surveillance of tuberculosis and treatment outcomes following screening and therapy interventions among marriage-migrants and labor-migrants from high TB endemic countries in Taiwan

Background Tuberculosis (TB) among migrants from high-risk countries and underling interventions were concerned for disease control. This study aimed to assess the TB trends among marriage-migrants with the 1–2-round vs. labor-migrants with the four-round TB screenings in the period of the first four post-entry years; pre-entry screenings by an initial chest X-ray (CXR) were conducted during 2012–2015, and a friendly treatment policy was introduced in 2014. Methods TB data of migrants during 2012–2015 were obtained from the National TB Registry Database and analyzed. The incidences, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes were assessed to explore the impact of underlying interventions. Results During post-entry 0–4 years, the TB incidence rates among marriage-migrants ranged 11–90 per 100,000 person-years, with 60.8% bacteria-positive and 28.2% smear-positive cases. Whereas among labor migrants, the incidence rates ranged 67–120 per 100,000 person-years, with 43.6% bacteria-positive and 13.7% smear-positive cases. All migrants originated from Southeast Asia following pre-entry health screening in 2012–2015. The TB cases among marriage-migrants were with a higher proportion of sputum-smear-positivity (SS+) (OR: 4.82, 95% CI [3.7–6.34]) and CXR cavitation (OR: 2.90, 95% CI [2.10–4.01]). Marriage-migrants with TB had treatment completion rate of >90%, which was above the WHO target. For labor-migrants with TB, when compared the period of post- vs. pre-implementation of the friendly therapy policy that eliminated compulsory repatriation, the overall treatment completion rate of those who stayed in Taiwan improved by 30.9% (95% CI [24.3–37.6]) vs. 6.7% (95% CI [3.8–9.7]), which exceeded a 4.88-fold (95% CI: 3.83–6.22) improvement. Additionally, the treatment initiation rate within 30 days of diagnosis for SS- TB and B- TB cases during post- vs. pre-implementation of the therapy policy was increased, that is, 77.1% vs. 70.9% (OR: 1.38, 95% CI [1.12–1.70]) and 78% vs. 77% (OR: 1.64, 95% CI [1.38–1.95]). Conclusion Multiple CXR screenings could identify more TB cases with sputum-smear-negativity (SS-) TB at the early-stage, introducing latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening might save underlying efforts. For those labor-migrants with TB who stayed in the receiving country, the friendly TB therapy policy not only significantly improved the treatment completion but also the early treatment initiation.