Abstract
Background and aimManagement of health issues presented by newly-arrived migrants is often limited to communicable diseases even though other health issues may be more prevalent. We report the results of infectious disease screening proposed to 462 recently-arrived asylum seekers over 14 years of age in Verona province between April 2014 and June 2015. Methods: Screening for latent tuberculosis (TB) was performed via tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube assay and/or chest X-ray. An ELISA was used to screen for syphilis. Stool microscopy was used to screen for helminthic infections, and serology was also used for strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis. Screening for the latter also included urine filtration and microscopy. Results: Most individuals came from sub-Saharan Africa (77.5%), with others coming from Asia (21.0%) and North Africa (1.5%). The prevalence of viral diseases/markers of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was 1.3%, HCV infection was 0.85% and hepatitis B virus surface antigen was 11.6%. Serological tests for syphilis were positive in 3.7% of individuals. Of 125 individuals screened for TB via the TST, 44.8% were positive and of 118 screened via the assay, 44.0% were positive. Of 458 individuals tested for strongyloidiasis, 91 (19.9%) were positive, and 76 of 358 (21.2%) individuals from sub-Saharan Africa were positive for schistosomiasis. Conclusions: The screening of viral diseases is questionable because of low prevalence and/or long-term, expensive treatments. For opposing reasons, helminthic infections are probably worth to be targeted by screening strategies in asylum seekers of selected countries of origin.
Highlights
In 2015, there were an estimated 244 million international migrants, representing 3% of the global population [1]
The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of a series of infectious diseases, communicable and non-communicable, in a cohort of asylum seekers that recently arrived in Europe and temporarily residing in a series of refugee shelters in Verona province, northern Italy
Extended screening for infectious diseases was offered to all asylum seekers referred by the physicians to the Centre for Tropical Diseases (CTD) in Negrar, Verona, for the blood sampling
Summary
In 2015, there were an estimated 244 million international migrants, representing 3% of the global population [1]. Migrants are mostly screened for active [5] and latent tuberculosis (TB) [6,7], human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and chronic viral hepatitis [8,9]. Almost no action aside from local initiatives is taken towards other infections such as parasitic diseases these often have a higher prevalence than the aforementioned infections [10,11,12,13,14] Their treatment is exceedingly shorter and cheaper than treatment for HIV and viral hepatitis, and can prevent severe and even fatal complications in the affected individuals [12,15,16,17]. Helminthic infections are probably worth to be targeted by screening strategies in asylum seekers of selected countries of origin
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