Evaluation of tuberculosis screening of immigrants in the Netherlands

Extract

In European Union/European Economic Area countries, a large proportion of patients with tuberculosis (TB) are born in or are citizens of a country different from the notifying country [1]. Immigrants have an increased risk for TB, depending on the TB incidence in their country of origin, conditions of their migration and duration of stay in the host country [2]. In low TB-incidence countries, systematic screening of immigrants at high risk for TB pre- or post-entry may be considered a key intervention in the progress towards TB elimination [3, 4]. However, current screening policies and practices in European low-incidence countries differ substantially [5, 6].