Increase in extra pulmonary tuberculosis in England and Wales 1999-2006

Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis appears to be increasing in England and Wales. The trends in extrapulmonary tuberculosis and factors associated with these trends were examined. Methods: National tuberculosis surveillance data from 1999–2006 for England and Wales were used, including demographic, clinical and laboratory information. Trends in the proportion of tuberculosis cases with extrapulmonary disease were investigated using the ?2 trend test and associated factors using logistic regression. Results: Among all the cases of tuberculosis, the proportion with extrapulmonary disease increased from 48% in 1999 (2717 cases) to 53% in 2006 (4205 cases,