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Guy B. Marks, PhD, FRACP, Jun Bai, MPH, BMed, Gregory J. Stewart, MPH, FAFPHM, Sheila E. Simpson, MPH, RN and Elizabeth A. Sullivan, MPH, FAFPHM

Guy B. Marks, Jun Bai, and Sheila E. Simpson are with South Western Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney, Australia. Guy B. Marks is also with the Institute of Respiratory Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. At the time of this study, Gregory J. Stewart was with Central Sydney Area Health Service, Sydney, Australia. Elizabeth A. Sullivan is with the School of Paediatrics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Guy B. Marks, PhD, FRACP, Chest Clinic, Liverpool Hospital, PO Box 103, NSW 2170 Australia (e-mail: g.marks{at}unsw.edu.au).

Objectives. This study assessed the effectiveness of postmigration screening for the control of tuberculosis (TB) among refugee migrants.

Methods. We conducted a historical cohort study among 24 610 predominantly Southeast Asian refugees who had arrived in Sydney, Australia, between 1984 and 1994. All had been screened for TB before arrival and had radiologic follow-up for 18 months after arrival. Incident cases of TB were identified by record linkage analysis with confirmatory review of case notes.

Results. The crude annual incidence rate over 10-year follow-up was 74.9 per 100 000 person-years. Only 29.6% of the cases were diagnosed as a result of routine follow-up procedures.

Conclusions. Enhanced passive case finding is likely to be more effective than active case finding for the control of TB among refugees.

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				Z. Mor, Y. Lerman, and A. Leventhal Pre-immigration screening process and pulmonary tuberculosis among Ethiopian migrants in Israel Eur. Respir. J., August 1, 2008; 32(2): 413 - 418. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]