South to North Migration Patterns of Tuberculosis Patients Diagnosed in the Mexican Border with Texas

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health 2022-10, Vol.24 (5), p.1113-1121
• Main Authors: Curry, Jennifer S., Abdelbary, Bassent, García-Viveros, Moncerrato, Garcia, Juan Ignacio, Yotebieng, Marcel, Rendon, Adrian, Torrelles, Jordi B., Restrepo, Blanca I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Borders; Clinical outcomes; College campuses; Comparative Law; Destinations; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Education; Immigrants; Internal migration; International & Foreign Law; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mexican Americans; Migration; Migration patterns; Original Paper; Patients; Population; Private International Law; Public Health; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Sociodemographics; Sociology; Surveillance; Treatment outcomes; Tuberculosis; Waypoints
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-021-01294-5

The Mexican state of Tamaulipas serves as a migration waypoint into the US. Here, we determined the contribution of immigrants to TB burden in Tamaulipas. TB surveillance data from Tamaulipas (2006–2013) was used to conduct a cross-sectional characterization of TB immigrants (born outside Tamaulipas) and identify their association with TB treatment outcomes. Immigrants comprised 30.8% of TB patients, with > 99% originating from internal Mexican migration. Most migration was from South to North, with cities adjacent to the US border as destinations. Immigrants had higher odds of risk factors for TB [older age (≥ 65 year old, OR 2.4, 95% CI 2.1, 2.8), low education (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2, 1.4), diabetes (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1, 1.4)], or abandoning treatment (adjusted OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0, 1.5). There is a need to identify strategies to prevent TB more effectively in Tamaulipas, a Mexican migration waypoint.