Prevalence of latent tuberculosis, syphilis, hepatitis B and C among asylum seekers in Malta

Padovese, Valeska; Egidi, Ada Maristella; Melillo, Tanya; Farrugia, Brian; Carabot, Philip; Didero, Daniele; Costanzo, Gianfranco; Mirisola, Concetta

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdt036

Cited by 26 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Just 8 studies excluded those with active TB from their study [23,32,34,50,66,68,69,71]. Only 16 studies reported on BCG vaccination with 9 using BCG scar as evidence of vaccination [28,32,33,53,55,58,60,71,72], 5 using BCG self-reporting as evidence [23,29,35,66,69], and 2 using BCG vaccination schedule in country of origin as a proxy for BCG vaccination [48,73], although BCG vaccination rates varied considerably across studies (0-100 %). The characteristics of the 51 included studies are included in Table 1 and in the supplementary text, which summarizes each of the 51 studies included in the review.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review on TST and IGRA Tests Used for Diagnosis of LTBI in Immigrants

et al. 2015

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Prevalence of positive test results were significantly lower in immigrants who were tested with an IGRA, resulting in fewer immigrants being recommended for LTBI treatment compared to TST. Coupled with comparable performance for detecting prevalent TB cases, the IGRA appears to exhibit better specificity than the TST and may be preferred as the standard of care for detecting LTBI in immigrants moving to low TB incidence countries.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review on TST and IGRA Tests Used for Diagnosis of LTBI in Immigrants

et al. 2015

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“…HBsAg positivity rates were higher among Sub-Saharan migrants, and intermediate among those from East Europe and Northern Africa [15]. In Malta, where most migrants tested were from Somalia, only 31 out of 5000 were found HBsAg positive [20]. Among first generation migrants tested in the Netherlands, the prevalence of HBsAg was estimated to be 3.8%, [22] whereas it was 1.1% among Egyptians [27]; further studies found anti-HBc prevalence ranging from 16.8 to 20%, showing high variability in accordance with age groups and ethnicity [24].…”

Section: Hepatitis B Virusmentioning

confidence: 96%

Vaccinations in migrants and refugees: a challenge for European health systems. A systematic review of current scientific evidence

Mipatrini¹,

Stefanelli

Severoni

et al. 2017

Pathogens and Global Health

165

122

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The decline of immunization rates in countries of origin of migrants and refugees, along with risky conditions during the journey to Europe, may threaten migrants' health. We performed a systematic review of the scientific literature in order to assess the frequency of vaccine preventable diseases, and vaccination coverage among migrants and refugees in Europe. To this end, Medline and Cochrane databases were considered. After the screening and the selection process, 58 papers were included in the review. We focused on the following vaccinepreventable diseases: hepatitis B, measles, rubella, mumps, tetanus, poliomyelitis, pertussis, diphtheria, meningitis, and varicella. The results were presented as a qualitative synthesis. In summary, several studies highlighted that migrants and refugees have lower immunization rates compared to European-born individuals. Firstly, this is due to low vaccination coverage in the country of origin. Then, several problems may limit migrants' access to vaccination in Europe: (i) migrants are used to move around the continent, and many vaccines require multiple doses at regular times; (ii) information on the immunization status of migrants is often lacking; (iii) hosting countries face severe economic crises; (iv) migrants often refuse registration with medical authorities for fear of legal consequences and (v) the lack of coordination among public health authorities of neighboring countries may determine either duplications or lack of vaccine administration. Possible strategies to overcome these problems include tailoring immunization services on the specific needs of the target population, developing strong communication campaigns, developing vaccination registers, and promoting collaboration among public health authorities of European Countries. Background and aims

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“…Migration from high-incidence countries (defined as incidence as ≥20 tuberculosis (TB) cases/100,000 inhabitants/year) is known to contribute notably to TB burden in low-incidence countries (<20 TB cases/100,000 inhabitants/year) using the thresholds previously proposed by the Wolfheze working group [4] and adopted in the EU monitoring framework [5] [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Persons with latent TB infection as well as patients with active TB and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB can easily move from one country to another in the EU.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of migration within the European Union/European Economic Area on the distribution of tuberculosis, 2007 to 2013

et al. 2016

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Immigration from tuberculosis (TB) high-incidence countries is known to contribute notably to the TB burden in low-incidence countries. However, the effect of migration enabled by the free movement of persons within the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) on TB notification has not been analysed. We analysed TB surveillance data from 29 EU/EEA countries submitted for the years 2007-2013 to The European Surveillance System. We used place of birth and nationality as proxy indicators for native, other EU/EEA and non-EU/EEA origin of the TB cases and analysed the characteristics of the subgroups by origin. From 2007-2013, a total of 527,467 TB cases were reported, of which 129,781 (24.6%) were of foreign origin including 12,566 (2.4%) originating from EU/EEA countries other than the reporting country. The countries reporting most TB cases originating from other EU/EEA countries were Germany and Italy, and the largest proportion of TB cases in individuals came from Poland (n=1,562) and Romania (n=6,285). At EU/ EEA level only a small proportion of foreign TB cases originated from other EU/EEA countries, however, the uneven distribution of this presumed importation may pose a challenge to TB programmes in some countries.

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Prevalence of latent tuberculosis, syphilis, hepatitis B and C among asylum seekers in Malta

Cited by 26 publications

References 28 publications

A Systematic Review on TST and IGRA Tests Used for Diagnosis of LTBI in Immigrants

A Systematic Review on TST and IGRA Tests Used for Diagnosis of LTBI in Immigrants

Vaccinations in migrants and refugees: a challenge for European health systems. A systematic review of current scientific evidence

The effect of migration within the European Union/European Economic Area on the distribution of tuberculosis, 2007 to 2013

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