The high number of people seeking asylum in Germany currently surpasses even the high mid-nineties level, challenging the national asylum-system in an unprecedented way. Adherence to standard procedures of accommodation and allocation is hindered, at the federal state level as well as at the regional level. Nearly 70% of the applicants in 2013 and 2014 were younger than thirty years, most of which were children under the age of sixteen. The most vulnerable group among the immigrants are children and young people. For this reason, local departments of youth and family services take care of unaccompanied minor migrants. According to the German Asylverfahrensgesetz (§ 62 AsylVfG), asylum-seekers living in accommodation-centres are obliged to undergo a basic medical examination in order to exclude communicable diseases. The procedure of this examination is defined by the federal state health authorities. However, the risk of importation of non-endemic infections via mobile populations is considered to be rather low in Germany. Migrants, as well as the resident population, rather come down with ordinary infections like common cold or diarrhoea. The most important measures of infection prevention are: access to medical care, early vaccination and implementation of hygiene guidelines. Health authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia recommend a certain set of vaccinations for refugees upon arrival. The federal states' vaccination-guidance does not include all age-specific vaccinations that are recommended by the German standing committee on vaccination (STIKO). Particular attention is paid on prevention of diseases with public health significance. Nevertheless, age-specific vaccinations are to be completed as soon as people enter the regular health care system.

Asylum-seekers-refugees Infection prevention Vaccination

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