Analysis of tuberculosis surveillance in Hungary in 2000.

Setting: Hungary, Central Europe, with a population of 10.3 million living in 20 administrative districts (19 counties and the capital).

Objective: To summarize the results of the first year of the revised National Tuberculosis Surveillance System.

Design: Retrospective survey of the National Tuberculosis Surveillance Center (NTSC) database.

Methods: Analysis of data on all tuberculosis cases reported to the NTSC in 2000. Drug susceptibility results were evaluated in line with WHO and IUATLD definitions.

Results: During 2000, a total of 3598 patients with tuberculosis were reported. Only 40% of these were bacteriologically confirmed. Although susceptibility testing has been required for previously untreated culture-positive cases, only 801 (67.8% of the bacteriologically confirmed cases) were tested in 2000. Drug resistance was detected in 10.7% of previously untreated and in 23.5% of previously treated patients. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) cases were not common: only 1.5% of the isolates from previously untreated patients and 4.9% of those from previously treated patients were MDR.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the NTSC should work towards increasing the numbers of cases that are bacteriologically confirmed. In addition, some form of surveillance system should be instituted to ensure that mandatory susceptibility testing is performed on all isolates from previously untreated tuberculosis patients.