Identification of growing tuberculosis incidence clusters in a region with a decrease in tuberculosis prevalence in Moscow (2000-2019)

Background The control of tuberculosis (TB) may benefit from a prospective identification of areas where the incidence may increase in addition to the traditionally identified foci of high incidence. We aimed to identify residential areas with growing tuberculosis incidence rates and assess their significance and stability. Methods We analysed the changes in TB incidence rates using case data geo-referenced with spatial granularity to apartment buildings in the territory of Moscow from 2000 to 2019. We identified sparsely distributed areas with significant increases in the incidence rate inside residential areas. We tested the stability of found growth areas to case underreporting via stochastic modelling. Results For 21 350 cases with smear- or culture-positive pulmonary TB among residents from 2000 to 2019, we identified 52 small-scale clusters of growing incidence rate responsible for 1% of all registered cases. We tested clusters of disease growth for underreporting and found them to be relatively unstable to resampling with case drop-out, but their spatial displacement was small. Territories with a stable increase in TB incidence rate were identified and compared to the rest of the city, which is characterised by a significant decrease in incidence. Conclusions Identified areas with a tendency for an increase in the TB incidence rate may be important targets for disease control services.

Automated summary

This study identified residential areas with a significant increase in tuberculosis incidence rates from 2000 to 2019 in Moscow. These areas were found to be relatively stable in terms of disease growth, making them important targets for disease control services.