摘要：Since the inception of the National Mycobacterial Surveillance System (NMSS) in 1991, annual crude notification rates for tuberculosis (TB) have remained stable at between 5 and 6 per 100,000 population. In 1997, there was a total of 1,001 TB notifications in Australia, of which 954 were new TB cases and 47 relapses. The corresponding annual crude notification rate for new and relapsed TB was 5.15 and 0.25 per 100,000 respectively. Seventy-nine per cent of notifications that had a country of birth reported were overseas born. In keeping with trends observed over recent reporting years, the populations for which notified TB rates were highest include the overseas born from high prevalence countries and indigenous Australians. The lowest rates of disease have continued to be reported in the non-indigenous, Australian born population. Surveillance reports over the last seven years indicate that the rate of disease in this population is gradually declining.
