Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis among newly arrived unaccompanied minors living in reception centers in Rome.
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.
['Marrone|Rosalia|R|', 'Baglio|Giovanni|G|', 'Bruscino|Giusy|G|', 'Costanzo|Gianfranco|G|', 'Cavani|Andrea|A|', 'Mirisola|Concetta|C|']
D000293:Adolescent D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants D005260:Female D006509:Hepatitis B D006526:Hepatitis C D006801:Humans D055985:Latent Tuberculosis D008297:Male D008403:Mass Screening D033242:Minors D015995:Prevalence D011634:Public Health D012384:Rome D013587:Syphilis D014171:Transients and Migrants D014374:Tuberculin Test D055815:Young Adult
Tuberculosis Hepatitis Syphilis Infectious diseases Screening Unaccompanied migrant minors