by Xiaohui Li, Gang Wu, Zhimin Ding Background Respiratory infections and tuberculosis (RIT) remain major contributors to global morbidity and mortality. In rapidly ageing societies, demographic shifts may decouple disease occurrence from fatal outcomes.
Japan offers a representative setting to examine long-term spatiotemporal patterns of RIT burden in an advanced ageing context. Methods A population-based spatiotemporal analysis of Japan from 2010 to 2023 was conducted using standardized national and prefectural estimates.
Annual RIT prevalence and deaths were examined by sex and age group. Long-term trends were quantified using estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) from log-linear models of rates, and changes in the etiological composition of RIT mortality were assessed by age and sex.
Results National RIT prevalence fell from 31.40 million cases in 2010 to 27.52 million in 2023, and the prevalence rate decreased from 24,536.02 to 22,070.66 per 100,000 (EAPC −1.11). In 2023, prevalent cases were similar between females (13.95 million) and males (13.57 million).
Adults aged 75 years and older increased from 2.47 million prevalent cases in 2010 to 3.28 million in 2023 despite declining rates.
PLOS ONE (Medicine) published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 17 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Spatiotemporal patterns of prevalence and mortality from respiratory infections and tuberculosis across Japan and its prefectures.
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