Screening for infectious diseases among asylum seekers newly arrived in Germany in 2015: a systematic single-centre analysis

Abstract

Objectives: During the migrant crisis in 2015, Germany was the largest single recipient of new asylum seekers in Europe. The German asylum law requires a screening examination for certain infectious diseases in asylum seekers upon arrival. The aim of this work was to analyse the rate of certain infectious diseases among asylum seekers screened at a reception centre in Southern Germany.

Study design: Retrospective medical record review.

Methods: Medical records of 2602 asylum seekers screened by a local public health authority in Germany in 2015 were systematically analysed.

Results: The majority of screened subjects came from Afghanistan and Syria. The mean age was 22.1 (±12.0) years. The majority of subjects were male (75.4%). Most individuals were of normal weight or overweight, more subjects were obese than underweight. A total of 78 (3.9%) individuals were infected with hepatitis B and eight (0.4%) with HIV. In 31 cases, chest radiographs suggested active tuberculosis (1.6%), which was confirmed in four cases (0.2%). The physical examination uncovered 44 (1.7%) cases of scabies, nine (0.3%) cases of lice, eight (0.3%) of upper respiratory tract infections, two (0.1%) of varicella and 13 (0.5%) of other skin infections.

Conclusions: In the majority of subjects none of the screened infectious diseases were found. No evidence was found that the overall prevalence of certain infectious diseases screened for in the present analysis was considerably higher than in previous migration studies.

Keywords: Asylum seekers; Germany; Infectious diseases; Refugees; Screening.