PLoS ONE (Jan 2015)

Detection of Tuberculosis Infection Hotspots Using Activity Spaces Based Spatial Approach in an Urban Tokyo, from 2003 to 2011.

  • Kiyohiko Izumi,
  • Akihiro Ohkado,
  • Kazuhiro Uchimura,
  • Yoshiro Murase,
  • Yuriko Tatsumi,
  • Aya Kayebeta,
  • Yu Watanabe,
  • Nobukatsu Ishikawa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138831
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 9
p. e0138831

Abstract

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Identifying ongoing tuberculosis infection sites is crucial for breaking chains of transmission in tuberculosis-prevalent urban areas. Previous studies have pointed out that detection of local accumulation of tuberculosis patients based on their residential addresses may be limited by a lack of matching between residences and tuberculosis infection sites. This study aimed to identify possible tuberculosis hotspots using TB genotype clustering statuses and a concept of "activity space", a place where patients spend most of their waking hours. We further compared the spatial distribution by different residential statuses and describe urban environmental features of the detected hotspots.Culture-positive tuberculosis patients notified to Shinjuku city from 2003 to 2011 were enrolled in this case-based cross-sectional study, and their demographic and clinical information, TB genotype clustering statuses, and activity space were collected. Spatial statistics (Global Moran's I and Getis-Ord Gi* statistics) identified significant hotspots in 152 census tracts, and urban environmental features and tuberculosis patients' characteristics in these hotspots were assessed.Of the enrolled 643 culture-positive tuberculosis patients, 416 (64.2%) were general inhabitants, 42 (6.5%) were foreign-born people, and 184 were homeless people (28.6%). The percentage of overall genotype clustering was 43.7%. Genotype-clustered general inhabitants and homeless people formed significant hotspots around a major railway station, whereas the non-clustered general inhabitants formed no hotspots. This suggested the detected hotspots of activity spaces may reflect ongoing tuberculosis transmission sites and were characterized by smaller residential floor size and a higher proportion of non-working households.Activity space-based spatial analysis suggested possible TB transmission sites around the major railway station and it can assist in further comprehension of TB transmission dynamics in an urban setting in Japan.