Microbiological screenings for infection control in unaccompanied minor refugees: the German Armed Forces Medical Service’s experience

Winfried Maaßen; Dorothea Wiemer; Claudia Frey; Christina Kreuzberg; Egbert Tannich; Rebecca Hinz; Andreas Wille; Andreas Fritsch; Ralf Matthias Hagen; Hagen Frickmann

doi:10.1186/s40779-017-0123-8

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Microbiological screenings for infection control in unaccompanied minor refugees: the German Armed Forces Medical Service’s experience

RESEARCH | Updated：2026-03-12

- Microbiological screenings for infection control in unaccompanied minor refugees: the German Armed Forces Medical Service’s experience
- Military Medical Research Vol. 5, Issue 1, Pages: 33-40(2018)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Department of Tropical Medicine at the Bernhard Nocht Institute, German Armed Forces Hospital of Hamburg, Bernhard Nocht Street 74, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany
  2.German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Bonn, Germany
  3.Department of Molecular Parasitology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  4.Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
  5.Institute for Hygiene and Environment, Hamburg, Germany
  6.Department of Laboratory Medicine, German Armed Forces Hospital of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  7.NATO Center of Excellence for Military Medicine (MilMedCOE), Deployment Health Surveillance Capability (DHSC), Munich, Germany
  8.Institute for Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany
- Author bio：
  
  *: Frickmann@bni-hamburg.de; frickmann@bnitm.de
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1186/s40779-017-0123-8
  CLC：
- Published：2018-03
- Accepted：
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Maaßen et al.: Microbiological screenings for infection control in unaccompanied minor refugees: the German Armed Forces Medical Service’s experience. Mil Med Res, 2017, 4: 13
DOI：

Maaßen et al.: Microbiological screenings for infection control in unaccompanied minor refugees: the German Armed Forces Medical Service’s experience. Mil Med Res, 2017, 4: 13 DOI： 10.1186/s40779-017-0123-8.

摘要

Abstract

Background:

The German Military Medical Service contributed to the medical screening of unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) coming to Germany in 2014 and 2015. In this study

a broad range of diagnostic procedures was applied to identify microorganisms with clinical or public health significance. Previously

those tests had only been used to screen soldiers returning from tropical deployments. This instance is the first time the approach has been studied in a humanitarian context.

Methods:

The offered screenings included blood cell counts

hepatitis B serology and microscopy of the stool to look for protozoa and worm eggs as well as PCR from stool samples targeting pathogenic bacteria

protozoa and helminths. If individuals refused certain assessments

their decision to do so was accepted. A total of 219 apparently healthy male UMRs coming from Afghanistan

Egypt

Somalia

Eritrea

Syria

Ghana

Guinea

Iran

Algeria

Iraq

Benin

Gambia

Libya

Morocco

Pakistan

and Palestine were assessed. All UMRs who were examined at the study department were included in the assessment.

Results:

We detected decreasing frequencies of pathogens that included diarrhoea-associated bacteria [Campylobacter (C.) jejuni

enteropathogenic Escherichia (E.) coli (EPEC)

enterotoxic E. coli (ETEC)

enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC)

enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC)/Shigella spp.)

Giardia (G.) duodenalis

helminths (comprising Schistosoma spp.

Hymenolepis (H.) nana

Strongyloides (S.) stercoralis] as well as hepatitis B virus. Pathogenic microorganisms dominated the samples by far. While G. duodenalis was detected in 11.4% of the assessed UMRs

the incidence of newly identified cases in the German population was 4.5 cases per 100

000 inhabitants.

Conclusion:

We conclude that the applied in-house PCR screening systems

which have proven to be useful for screening military returnees from tropical deployments

can also be used for health assessment of immigrants from the respective sites. Apparently healthy UMRs may be enterically colonized with a broad variety of pathogenic and apathogenic microorganisms. Increased colonization rates

as shown for G. duodenalis

can pose a hygiene problem in centralized homes for asylum seekers.

关键词

Keywords

references

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