Background
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are emerging opportunistic pathogens of humans. Because NTM-PD is not a notifiable disease in Europe, the epidemiology of NTM-PD is not well known. However, the prevalence of NTM-PD is thought to be increasing, particularly in countries where tuberculosis rates have decreased. Here we aim to determine the prevalence of NTM-PD in the Netherlands.
Annual prevalence estimates of NTM-PD in the Netherlands (2012–2019) were derived from four separate databases, including two drug dispensing databases, an ICD-10 code database and a hospitalisation database. Databases covered a fraction of the Dutch population and were extrapolated. In addition, annual NTM-PD prevalence was also estimated by means of a pulmonologist survey.
The estimated annual prevalence of NTM-PD using databases is between 2.3 and 5.9 patients/100 000 inhabitants. Prevalence estimates derived from the drug dispensing databases, the hospitalisation database and the claims database were 2.3, 5.9, 3.5 and 4.5/100 000 inhabitants, respectively. The annual prevalence estimated in the pulmonologist survey was between 6.2 and 9.9/100 000 inhabitants. The annual prevalence remained stable over the included period.
The estimated annual prevalence of NTM-PD using databases was between 2.3 and 5.9 patients/100 000 inhabitants. Due to the possible presence of tuberculosis patients and low coverage in one dispensing database, we believe an annual prevalence of between 2.3 and 4.5 patients/100 000 inhabitants is more probable which still renders NTM-PD a serious health threat. This estimate is lower than the estimate from the pulmonologist survey, indicating physicians likely overestimate prevalence.
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Schildkraut has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Zweijpfenning has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Maarten A Nap, MSc, reports grant from InsMed, during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: Dr. He reports grants from Insmed, during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Dacheva reports grants from Insmed, during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Overbeek reports other from PHARMO Institute for Drug Outcomes Research, during the conduct of the study; and Jetty A. Overbeek is an employee of the PHARMO Institute for Drug Outcomes Research. This independent research institute performs financially supported studies for government and related healthcare authorities and several pharmaceutical companies.
Conflict of interest: Dr. TOSTMANN has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Wertheim has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Hoefsloot has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. van Ingen reports other from Insmed, outside the submitted work.
This is a PDF-only article. Please click on the PDF link above to read it.
- Copyright ©The authors 2021
This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0. For commercial reproduction rights and permissions contact permissions{at}ersnet.org