Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis among newly arrived unaccompanied minors living in reception centers in Rome

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to address the prevalence of infectious diseases in a population of unaccompanied immigrant minors living in reception centres of Rome, Italy. Methods: The study was carried out from January 2013 to January 2019. All unaccompanied immigrant minors were screened for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and latent tuberculosis infection. Results: A total of 879 unaccompanied immigrant minors, 858 males and 21 females, aged 13–18 years old were studied. Of these, 615 were from Africa, 179 from Asia and 84 from Eastern Europe. A low prevalence of HBsAg carriage (2.5%) was observed as was very low prevalence of hepatitis C (0.72%) and latent syphilis (0.4%); latent tuberculosis, defined as tuberculin skin test (TST)+ X-ray case, was diagnosed in 102 (12%) minors. Conclusions: Similar to previous studies, these data demonstrate that migrant minors are generally healthy. However, given the relatively high prevalence of hepatitis B and latent tuberculosis, systematic screening for these diseases among immigrant minors immigrants is highly recommended for early detection and treatment of potentially transmissible diseases.

Keywords

• Screening
• Unaccompanied migrant minors
• Infectious diseases
• Tuberculosis
• Hepatitis
• Syphilis