[Tuberculosis annual report 2008--Series 3. Childhood TB].

The number of newly notified childhood tuberculosis (TB) patients aged 0-14 years fell dramatically from the 1970s, and newly notified childhood TB cases in 2008 was 95, corresponding to 0.55 per 100,000. Among 95 childhood TB patients, 41 (43.2%) were aged 0-4 years, 5 (5.3%) were foreigners and 36 (37.9%) were extra-pulmonary TB. Meningeal TB among those aged 0-14 years has not been notified since 2006. The trends of incidence rates of childhood TB differed by age group. Till the early 1970s, the 5-9 age group showed the highest rate among childhood TB, but then showed the lowest rate from the late 1980s. On the other hand, the 0-4 age group has consistently shown the highest rate since the late 1970s. Concerning the mode of detection in 2008, 43 patients (45.3%) were detected by family contact examination and 8 (8.4%) were detected by other contact examination. Thirty-five patients (36.8%) were detected at medical institutions with some symptoms, and only 3 (3.2%) patients were detected by mass-screening at school. There are 47 prefectures in Japan, of which 14 had no childhood TB case in 2008. Most childhood TB cases were in Tokyo with 12 patients, followed by Osaka and Kanagawa with 8 patients each.