High Tuberculosis Incidence Among Refugee Minors in Denmark: A Register-Based Cohort Study

Aim Tuberculosis (TB) among refugee minors in low-incidence countries remains underexplored. We estimated the incidence of TB disease among refugee minors compared to Danish-born minors. Methods This nationwide prospective historical cohort study included 31 172 refugee minors ( Results Refugee minors had a 48 times higher TB IR compared to their Danish-born peers. Notably, refugee minors from sub-Saharan Africa had an IR of 203 per 100 000 person-years. For both refugee minors and their Danish-born peers, pulmonary TB was the most common form, but still more than a third had extrapulmonary manifestations. Among refugee minors, most TB cases were diagnosed more than 2 years after arrival. Conclusion Our findings underscore the need for national policies and clinical guidelines for TB screening of all refugee minors upon arrival to reduce morbidity and advance TB elimination efforts.