TB-related technical enquiries received at the Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan, during COVID-19

Abstract

SETTING: Japan: a low-TB-burden country. OBJECTIVE: To characterise TB-related technical enquiries received in 2020–2022, and share the lessons learnt. DESIGN: This was a descriptive study. RESULTS: We received 1,898 communications, of which 1,447 (40.2 per month) were classified as technical enquiries, 34% fewer than the 2,197 enquiries received in 2017–2019. The enquiry rates were highest for Shimane (4.32/100,000 population) and Yamanashi (2.59/100,000 population) prefectures, and lowest in Ehime (0.00/100,000 population) and Yamagata (0.09/100,000 population) prefectures. The main organisations the enquirers belonged to were local governments (n = 989, 68.3%) and healthcare facilities (n = 242, 16.7%). The enquirers included medical doctors (n = 236, 16.3%), nurses (n = 814, 56.3%), and the general public (n = 141, 9.7%). The most frequent enquiries were about TB diagnosis and treatment, including laboratory diagnosis (n = 442, 30.6%), followed by the regulatory framework (n = 216, 14.9%), contact investigation (n = 151, 10.8%), and TB in foreigners (n = 112, 7.9%). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 era, we received two-thirds of technical enquiries compared with 2017–2019, because local health offices were overwhelmed by the pandemic. Since the most frequent enquiries were about diagnosis and treatment of TB, the health ministry of Japan should maintain a few specialised TB institutions with TB physicians to provide technical assistance.

Keywords

• epidemiology
• tuberculosis
• technical assistance
• tb enquiries