International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume 11, Issue 10, 2014, Pages 11004-11014

Screening for Infectious Diseases among Newly Arrived Migrants in EU/EEA Countries—Varying Practices but Consensus on the Utility of Screening (Article) (Open Access)

Kärki T.* , Napoli C. , Riccardo F. , Fabiani M. , Grazia Dente M. , Carballo M. , Noori T. , Declich S.
  • a National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy, European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Tomtebodavägen 11a, Stockholm, 171 83, Sweden
  • b National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy
  • c National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy
  • d National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy
  • e National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy
  • f International Centre for Migration, Health and Development (ICMHD), Route du Nant d’Avril 11, Geneva, 1214, Switzerland
  • g European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Tomtebodavägen 11a, Stockholm, 171 83, Sweden
  • h National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS), viale Regina Elena, Rome, 299-00161, Italy

Abstract

Screening is one possible tool for monitoring infectious diseases among migrants. However, there is limited information on screening programmes targeted for newly arrived migrants in EU/EEA countries. Our aim was to investigate the implementation, practices and usefulness of these programmes. We conducted a survey among country experts from EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, asking whether their countries had implemented screening programmes. We also estimated the association between the implementation of these programmes and the rate of asylum-seekers in the population. Of the countries, 16 (59%) had implemented screening programmes and 15 (56%) had national guidelines. The rate of asylum-seekers was associated with implementation of screening programmes (p = 0.014). Screening was performed most often for tuberculosis; most commonly on holding level, and was targeted to specific migrant groups in over half of the countries performing screening. Twenty-five of all the country experts (96%) considered screening among migrants useful, and 24 (92%) would welcome EU level guidelines for screening. The implementation of screening programmes varied, and the practices were different among countries. Our survey suggests, that establishing EU level guidelines for screening would be useful, although they would have to take into account differences between individual countries. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Author Keywords

Screening Migrants Refugees Infectious diseases Immigration

Index Keywords

information processing refugee health care planning Human immunodeficiency virus infection mass screening public health service Europe infectious disease human immigration Communicable Diseases Refugees controlled study Malaria consensus development health care practice procedures sexually transmitted disease cholera asylum seeker Humans tuberculosis communicable disease control European Union standards Article infection control health care utilization migration medical expert infection rubella Transients and Migrants hepatitis B poliomyelitis measles Switzerland Data Collection public health hepatitis C
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84908321213&doi=10.3390%2fijerph111011004&partnerID=40&md5=2574f6815d241a7fad6aba1f1c608c2b
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph111011004
ISSN: 16617827
Cited by: 41
Original Language: English