Spatial and temporal distribution of tuberculosis in the state of Mexico, Mexico

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest human diseases that still affects large population groups. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were approximately 9.4 million new cases worldwide in the year 2010. In Mexico, there were 18,848 new cases of TB of all clinical variants in 2010. The identification of clusters in space-time is of great interest in epidemiological studies. The objective of this research was to identify the spatial and temporal distribution of TB during the period 20062010 in the State of Mexico, using geographic information system (GIS) and SCAN statistics program. Nine significant clusters (P ≤ 0.05) were identified using spatial and space-time analysis. The conclusion is that TB in the State of Mexico is not randomly distributed but is concentrated in areas close to Mexico City. Copyright 2012 Adrian Zaragoza Bastida et al.