Do refugees put Egypt at Higher Risk of Tuberculosis Resurgence? A Narrative Review
Tuberculosis and Refugees in Egypt
Keywords:
Tuberculosis, Refugees, Migrants, Egypt, Resurgence, Narrative ReviewAbstract
Introduction:Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global public health problem despite being preventable and curable. Refugees and migrants may face increased vulnerability to TB because of overcrowding, malnutrition, disrupted healthcare, and barriers to diagnosis and treatment. Egypt hosts large numbers of refugees and migrants from countries with varying TB burdens, raising concerns about the implications for national TB control. This narrative review examined whether refugee and migrant mobility may contribute to the risk of TB resurgence in Egypt.
Methods: A narrative review was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, supplemented by relevant reports and grey literature. Searches were performed on May 25, 2024, using combinations of terms related to tuberculosis, resurgence, refugees, migrants, and Egypt. English-language peer-reviewed articles, public health reports, and policy documents relevant to TB resurgence, migration-related TB risk, and the Egyptian context were reviewed and synthesized narratively.
Results: The reviewed evidence indicates that TB resurgence is driven by interacting biomedical, social, and health-system factors, including HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, latent TB infection reactivation, multidrug-resistant TB, malnutrition, poverty, overcrowding, and limited access to healthcare. Refugees and migrants may be particularly vulnerable because of displacement-related exposures and interrupted care. Egypt hosts refugees and migrants from several countries with higher TB incidence than Egypt; however, direct Egypt-specific data on active TB and latent TB infection among these populations remain limited.
Conclusions: Egypt’s risk of TB resurgence should be understood within a broader framework of migration, social vulnerability, chronic disease burden, drug resistance, and health-system capacity.
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