Health Japan introduces pre-entry TB checks for foreign nationals staying over 90 days

Japan began requiring mandatory tuberculosis screening for foreign nationals planning to stay more than three months before entry on Monday, starting with individuals from the Philippines and Nepal, a government official said. Vietnam is expected to be added to the list in September, with Indonesia, Myanmar, and China set to follow. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, cases of tuberculosis among foreign residents in Japan have been increasing, with most infections found in people from these six countries.

The screening requirement will initially apply to citizens who normally reside in the Philippines and Nepal, and plan to stay in Japan over a mid to long term. They will be obliged to provide evidence that they are not infected with tuberculosis before their arrival or will be denied entry. While tuberculosis is curable and preventable, it killed an estimated 1.25 million people in 2023 and has likely regained its status as the world's deadliest infectious disease after being temporarily overtaken by COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization.

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In Japan, the number of tuberculosis patients fell below 10 per 100,000 people for the first time in 2021, reaching 9.2 and placing the country in the WHO's low-incidence category. The rate declined further to 8.1 in 2023, according to the latest health ministry data.

I had to do a TB screening (chest x-ray) before I went on a student visa some years ago, so this announcement doesn't surprise me in the least.

Might need to add the U.S. to the list soon with all the anti-vaccination movement gaining traction. Several posts in my neighborhood group looking for pediatricians who don't "push" vaccination. And top health official in the U.S. now is an anti-vaxxer.

Besides getting the usual zillion shots in the army, following that I was in the peace corps--as a TB control worker. Different aspects to that, part of it was a short health talk to 1st and 6th graders that were both screened and vaccinated (I didn't do the vaccinations, but did give a lot of PPD skin tests). Another part was sputum collection and testing (yuk). Our group also cross-trained a little on leprosy (hansen's disease), which stains ad looks the same under a microscope. TB goes to the warm areas; leprosy to the cold. Also, lots of immunizations in the peace corps, too, and we all had the old yellow booklets recording it all. I didn't turn positive for TB, but I heard that a couple few did (positive means immune reaction detected, not full blown TB). During training and occasional retrainings, we were pretty well indoctrinated, and then of course seeing patients as a part of that role/work who had been "consumed". Mostly pulmonary, but that can also move to bones and elsewhere. Also, my wife's father had TB long ago--it kept him out of the war and in a sanatorium..

Much later, '85, I did some trekking in Nepal (Khumbu, and made it up Kala Patthar and to base camp). But on the way back down I started getting sick, which, when I finally got back to Kathmandu, was confirmed to be typhoid. I'd been vaccinated for that back in peace corps, but that was way out of date. I took drugs there, began to feel better, and flew to Hong Kong, where it came back. Went to hospital there, and they put me in a special isolation hospital up in NT. Stayed about six weeks, it was free, lots of food since I'd lost weight. Shoulda coulda woulda...

I can still remember lining up at a school to get a sugar cube, the polio vaccine. I had an uncle who had polio, and if you know the name Joni Mitchell, she did, too (weak left hand meant she invented a lot of open tunings for guitar). And it's amazing to read in this article, that:

When parents got word of this new vaccine, they flocked to local schools, churches, fire stations and other public meeting places, where the vaccines were being administered. ... Lines snaked around buildings offering the vaccine as families lined up to make sure their children were protected.

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Things change, I guess.

Anyway, I'm very pro vax. Our kids got all their shots, we still get flu shots every year, got all the covid shots available, and we've both had the Shingrix shots.

Been there , done that. Sometime in the 70's , Penthouse did a big exposure article how the military gave 8 or ten regular shots and the other 10 or 15 were experimental. So , basically we were used as guineapigs for the drug companies. Working as a CNA meant more tests and shots. Then old age meant more shots like flu , shingles and boosters yearly. I think I've had at least 6 covid shots. I won't be surprised if after I die , there will be a few more shots , LOL.

johnnyG said:

Things change, I guess.

Anyway, I'm very pro vax. Our kids got all their shots, we still get flu shots every year, got all the covid shots available, and we've both had the Shingrix shots.

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Our collective memories are short. In the early (pre-vaccine) days the mortality rates of children were very high. I imagine if you know people or had children who had died you'd be flocking to get the vaccines. Now all the people who are weak in the head believe memes and rumours over actual science. Here's an interesting story regarding the genesis of the story linking MMR vaccine to autism in children.

tl;dr version:
The 2025 NPR story explains how the persistent myth that vaccines cause autism began with a discredited 1998 study by Andrew Wakefield, which falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism and sparked widespread fear despite lacking credible evidence. The myth gained traction through media coverage, celebrity endorsements, and the rise of autism diagnoses, leading many to draw incorrect causal connections. Although numerous large-scale studies have since thoroughly disproven any link between vaccines and autism, the falsehood endures due to emotional narratives, misinformation, and distrust of institutions—contributing to vaccine hesitancy and public health risks.

When we moved to the US my wife was required to get a chest x-ray in Japan and some things for TB testing, we got those X-Rays on a CD (I still have them) and gave them to the US embassy in Tokyo before she got her visa. Kinda weird a Japanese had to do those tests but we did not argue.