Background: In 2015, Germany had an increase in refugees. About 1 million displaced people were seeking help and protection in Germany. The medical care of refugees includes some peculiarities which have to be taken into account by health care professionals. Objective, material, method: The aim of this article is to point out specific aspects of medical problems in refugees based on our own data and current medical literature. Results: Refugees are mainly male (65%) and have a median age <30 years. We see a preponderance of infectious diseases as acute medical problems in refugees. Most of these infectious diseases are well known to German physicians and are easily treatable without any specialized knowledge, including wound and skin infections, pneumonia, viral bronchitis, feverish viral diseases, and enteritis. The responsible germs hardly differ from the autochthonous population. We intermittently observe small outbreaks of chicken pox, measles, and influenza, which reflects insufficient immunization of most of the refugees. Infectious diseases which need special attendance in refugees are mainly different forms of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In refugees from Africa, malaria has to be taken into account. Since summer 2015, we have observed a cluster of louse-borne relapsing fever among asylum seekers from East Africa (Horn of Africa) due to Borrelia recurrentis. Conclusion: Infectious diseases are of preponderant significance in refugees coming to Germany. Most of these infections do not differ significantly from the German population with regard to the underlying causes. Exceptionally physicians are facing medical problems which need profound expertise in infectious diseases and tropical medicine. Especially tuberculosis has to be taken into account in this cohort. In refugees with African origin, malaria and louse-borne relapsing fever are of importance in feverish patients. Diseases like typhoid fever, amoebiasis, leishmaniasis or brucellosis are scarcely observed. Plague, yellow fever, Ebola or Lassa fever and trypanosomiasis are hardly to be expected as health problems in refugees. © 2016, Springer Medizin Verlag Berlin.

tuberculosis Malaria Scabies and impetigo Louse-borne relapsing fever Infectious diseases

enteritis extrapulmonary tuberculosis Germany refugee wound infection bronchitis human Borrelia recurrentis sex difference pediculosis chickenpox Malaria asylum seeker lung tuberculosis male female Africa Article epidemic adult pneumonia infection skin infection influenza measles