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.
(Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)