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. 2023 Oct;28(42):2300051.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.42.2300051.

Tuberculosis incidence in foreign-born people residing in European countries in 2020

Anca Vasiliu  1 , Niklas Köhler  2   3   4 , Ekkehardt Altpeter  5 , Tinna Rán Ægisdóttir  6 , Marina Amerali  7 , Wouter Arrazola de Oñate  8   9 , Ágnes Bakos  10 , Stefania D'Amato  11 , Daniela Maria Cirillo  12 , Reinout van Crevel  13   14 , Edita Davidaviciene  15 , Irène Demuth  16 , Jose Domínguez  17 , Raquel Duarte  18   19   20 , Gunar Günther  21   22 , Jean-Paul Guthmann  23 , Sophia Hatzianastasiou  7 , Louise Hedevang Holm  24 , Zaida Herrador  25 , Urška Hribar  26 , Conny Huberty  16 , Elmira Ibraim  27 , Sarah Jackson  28 , Mogens Jensenius  29 , Kamilla Sigridur Josefsdottir  30 , Anders Koch  24   31 , Maria Korzeniewska-Kosela  32 , Liga Kuksa  33 , Heinke Kunst  34 , Christian Lienhardt  35   36 , Beatrice Mahler  27   37 , Mateja Janković Makek  38   39 , Inge Muylle  40 , Johan Normark  41   42 , Analita Pace-Asciak  43 , Goranka Petrović  44 , Despo Pieridou  45 , Giulia Russo  12 , Olena Rzhepishevska  46 , Helmut J F Salzer  47   48 , Marta Sá Marques  20 , Daniela Schmid  49 , Ivan Solovic  50   51 , Mariya Sukholytka  52 , Petra Svetina  53 , Mariya Tyufekchieva  54 , Tuula Vasankari  55   56 , Piret Viiklepp  57 , Kersti Villand  57 , Jiri Wallenfels  58 , Stefan Wesolowski  32 , Anna-Maria Mandalakas  1   2 , Leonardo Martinez  59 , Dominik Zenner  60   61 , Christoph Lange  1   2   3   4 ; TBnet  62
Affiliations

Tuberculosis incidence in foreign-born people residing in European countries in 2020

Anca Vasiliu et al. Euro Surveill. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

BackgroundEuropean-specific policies for tuberculosis (TB) elimination require identification of key populations that benefit from TB screening.AimWe aimed to identify groups of foreign-born individuals residing in European countries that benefit most from targeted TB prevention screening.MethodsThe Tuberculosis Network European Trials group collected, by cross-sectional survey, numbers of foreign-born TB patients residing in European Union (EU) countries, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 from the 10 highest ranked countries of origin in terms of TB cases in each country of residence. Tuberculosis incidence rates (IRs) in countries of residence were compared with countries of origin.ResultsData on 9,116 foreign-born TB patients in 30 countries of residence were collected. Main countries of origin were Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Morocco, Romania and Somalia. Tuberculosis IRs were highest in patients of Eritrean and Somali origin in Greece and Malta (both > 1,000/100,000) and lowest among Ukrainian patients in Poland (3.6/100,000). They were mainly lower in countries of residence than countries of origin. However, IRs among Eritreans and Somalis in Greece and Malta were five times higher than in Eritrea and Somalia. Similarly, IRs among Eritreans in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK were four times higher than in Eritrea.ConclusionsCountry of origin TB IR is an insufficient indicator when targeting foreign-born populations for active case finding or TB prevention policies in the countries covered here. Elimination strategies should be informed by regularly collected country-specific data to address rapidly changing epidemiology and associated risks.

Keywords: TB; migrants; policy; prevention; refugees.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Countries of origin of foreign-born tuberculosis cases residing in European Union countries and Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, 2020
Figure 2
Figure 2
Observed incidence rate of tuberculosis per 100,000 foreign-born individuals per country of residence vs incidence in their country of origin as reported by the WHO based on estimated data, European Union countries and Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, 2020
Figure 3
Figure 3
Incidence rate ratio of tuberculosis in country of residence and incidence rate in country of origin as reported by the WHO based on estimated data, European Union countries and Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, 2020
Figure 4
Figure 4
Tuberculosis incidence, European Union, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom, 2020
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