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In Germany, people categorised as 'unaccompanied minor refugees' have special rights, entitlements and possibilities. It is, for example, legally complicated to deport them. Since age is such a crucial marker of difference, the age statement of individual migrants is often scrutinised in their registration process through administrative, pedagogic and forensic practices. This ethnographic analysis of forensic age estimations in Hamburg, Germany, shows that one cannot simply read age from a young migrant's bones. Rather, an individual's age is enacted in a practice whereby age is not only dependent on a body, but also on the specific bureaucratic and scientific traditions, technologies and standards involved in assessing it. Thus, citizenship practices based on age not only draw on 'the body', but also – and more crucially – on varied scientific and bureaucratic practices. I propose the concept of 'biorelational citizenship' to grasp these shifting relationalities of the body in citizenship practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Our aim was to determine the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), the number needed to screen (NNS), and the diagnostic accuracy of chest X-ray (CXR) screening to detect active pulmonary TB during the 2015 European refugee crisis.Materials and Methods: We evaluated data of all refugees who underwent CXR screening in a single-centre of one German metropolitan area in 2015. We determined the prevalence of TB, NNS, and accuracy of CXR to detect active pulmonary TB. Reference method for active TB was the database of all definite TB cases registered at the Department of Public Health.Results: A total of 17,487 immigrants underwent single-centre CXR screening in 2015; prevalence of definite pulmonary TB was 0.103%. The NNS for detecting one case of active pulmonary TB was 1749. CXR had a sensitivity of 55.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 30.8-78.5%) and a specificity 98.3% (CI 98.1-98.5%) to reveal one case of active TB.Conclusion: Our single-centre study indicates that chest X-ray screening for TB during the 2015 European refugee crisis was of low yield due the low prevalence of TB and high number needed to screen, thus implicating the need for improved screening algorithms adapted to the overwhelming number of refugees.Key Points: • Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) among refugees in 2015 was low (0.103%). • The number needed to screen to detect one case of active pulmonary TB was 1749. • Tuberculosis X-ray screening resulted in a low sensitivity and high specificity. • Tuberculosis X-ray screening during the European refugee crisis is of low yield. • Improved screening algorithms are needed due to the overwhelming the number of refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the European Union tuberculosis prevalence-rates are among the lowest in the world. The prevalence of active tuberculosis in migrant populations has to be analyzed to get valid data on the risk of tuberculosis and for the decision of screening activities.Methods: Therefore, we prospectively quantified the risk of active tuberculosis among asylum seekers at time of arrival. Investigation was performed as regular part of the admission screenings for people arriving at Friedland, Germany, a primary major receiving center during one year.Results: In 11.773 newly arrived asylum seekers 16 X-ray investigations gave the suspicion of active tuberculosis, thereof 11 cases could be verified by culture, thereof 9 cases were classified as microscopically positive. These data translate into rates of 136 per 100.000 suspected cases, 93 per 100.000 verified cases, and finally 76 per 100.000 infectious cases, respectively. Prevalence was higher in asylum seekers coming from Eritrea and Russia compared to the main origins of current migration Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon. One case of MDR-tuberculosis could be detected in a migrant from Russia.Conclusions: Prevalence rates of tuberculosis in newly arrived asylum seekers are higher than in native European populations. Rates seem to reflect the prevalence in the home countries. X-ray investigation during first examination may help identifying people needing further tests for detecting infectious tuberculosis and therefore may prevent transmission. However due to the low prevalence rates screening procedures have to be reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]