Immigrant screening for TB: a missed opportunity to improve TB control in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Tuberculosis in the United Kingdom and other high-income countries is primarily a disease of the foreign-born arising from the synergy of migration from high TB burden regions and the reactivation of remotely acquired latent TB infection. UK immigrant screening policy primarily aims to identify active, rather than latent, TB although mounting evidence indicates that implementing latent TB screening for new entrants from intermediate and high incidence countries could cost-effectively reduce TB incidence in the UK.