{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T01:41:53Z","timestamp":1760233313314,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]],"date-time":"2022-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)","award":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"]}]},{"name":"European Union","award":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"]}]},{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III- Spanish Ministry of Health and Fondos Feder of the EU","award":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"]}]},{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)- Fondos Feder of the EU","award":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PI20\/01490","CM21\/00174","BAE 22\/00021"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: In recent decades, the increase in population movements has turned the focus to imported diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the access to health care systems, especially in highly vulnerable populations. We address the effects of the pandemic on the health screening of migrant unaccompanied minors (UM) in Spain. Method: Retrospective cross-sectional study including UM screened for imported diseases with a unified protocol at a pediatric reference unit for tropical and infectious diseases in Madrid, Spain. We compared the pre-pandemic (2018\u20132019) and post-pandemic periods (2020\u20132021). Results: A total of 192 minors were screened during the study period, with a drop in UM\u2019s referral to our center in the post-pandemic years (140 in 2018\u20132019 vs. 52 in 2020\u20132021). Out of 192, 161 (83.9%) were diagnosed with at least one medical condition. The mean age was 16.8 years (SD 0.8) and 96.9% were males. Most cases were referred for a health exam; only 38% of children were symptomatic. Eosinophilia was present in 20.8%. The most common diagnosis were latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) (72.9%), schistosomiasis (15.1%), toxocariasis (4.9%) and strongyloidiasis (4.9%). The prevalence of LTBI did not vary significantly (69.3% vs. 82.7%, p = 0.087). A total of 38% of the patients diagnosed with LTBI never started treatment or were lost to follow-up, as were two out of three patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Conclusions: In this series, the number of UM referred for health screening has dropped dramatically after the COVID pandemic, and two years after the beginning of the pandemic, access to care is still limited. Lost to follow-up rates are extremely high despite institutionalization. Specific resources, including multidisciplinary teams and accessible units are needed to improve diagnoses and linkage to care in this vulnerable population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed8010028","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,30]],"date-time":"2022-12-30T03:18:18Z","timestamp":1672370298000},"page":"28","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuberculosis and Other Imported Diseases Screening among Migrant Minors in Spain"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7042-8561","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabel","family":"Mellado-Sola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Molino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisa-Andrea","family":"Armas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Quir\u00f3n Salud San Jos\u00e9, 28002 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7818-9144","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"Nogueira L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de salud de Cascastillo, 31310 Navarra, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5888-7706","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iker","family":"Falces-Romero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, La Paz University Hospital, 28046 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cristina Calvo","family":"Rey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Red de Investigaci\u00f3n Traslacional en Infectolog\u00eda Pedi\u00e1trica (RITIP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Grasa Lozano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Red de Investigaci\u00f3n Traslacional en Infectolog\u00eda Pedi\u00e1trica (RITIP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9","family":"Mellado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Red de Investigaci\u00f3n Traslacional en Infectolog\u00eda Pedi\u00e1trica (RITIP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milagros Garc\u00eda","family":"L\u00f3pez-Hortelano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Red de Investigaci\u00f3n Traslacional en Infectolog\u00eda Pedi\u00e1trica (RITIP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5301-0945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tal\u00eda","family":"Sainz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Pediatrics, Infectious and Tropical Diseases Department, Hospital La Paz, 28046 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"La Paz Research Institute (IdiPAZ), 28029 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red en Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"Red de Investigaci\u00f3n Traslacional en Infectolog\u00eda Pedi\u00e1trica (RITIP), Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1490","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp2118145","article-title":"COVID-19\u2019s Devastating Effect on Tuberculosis Care-A Path to Recovery","volume":"386","author":"Pai","year":"2022","journal-title":"N. 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Health"}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/8\/1\/28\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:55:32Z","timestamp":1760147732000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/8\/1\/28"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]]},"references-count":29,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed8010028"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed8010028","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2414-6366"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]]}}}