Epidemiological and bacteriological characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) in the Russian Arctic (RA) region indigenous people and newcomers

The TB incidence in Russia is steadily decreasing, but in some regions, there is an increase. One of the reasons for the unstable situation is internal migration. <b>Aims:</b> To describe the epidemiological features of TB and M.tuberculosis (MTB) in adult pulmonary TB patients among the indigenous people and newcomers of the RA. <b>Methods:</b> The study was conducted in 2018-2019 in the RA. TB detection way, gender, and the presence of risk factors among TB patients were analyzed and compared in the indigenous people and newcomers. The indigenous people (IndP) are defined as the Nenets, Khanty, Selkup, Komi and people who were born in the RA (n=51). The newcomers are people who live in RA for less than 10 years (n=88). The Mtb were identified before starting treatment in all patients. An Odd ratio (OR) with 95% CI were used for results presentation. <b>Results:</b> TB was detected 3.22 times more often among patients with complaints (95% CI 1.573-6.621): in the IndP - 59%, newcomers - 30.3%. In 20% of the IndP diagnosed for TB, it was detected 3-8 months after normal results of preventive fluorography. In young women, TB was registered 1.8 times more often among the IndP than newcomers (95% CI 1.573-6.621). IndP had several risk factors for TB 4.3 times more often (95% CI 1.489-12.447). In the RA, the dominance of MTB Beijing was registered –71.9%, among which 28.1% is the Beijing B0/W148. There is a similar variety of Mtb in the whole territory of Russia and Global. <b>Conclusions:</b> The epidemiological features of TB in the AR IndP require strengthening of anti-epidemic measures, including the diagnosis and treatment of latent TB infection.