@article {Kaushik00008-2018, author = {Nishta Kaushik and Chris Lowbridge and Gabriella Scandurra and Claudia C. Dobler}, title = {Post-migration follow-up programme for migrants at increased risk of developing tuberculosis: a cohort study}, volume = {4}, number = {3}, elocation-id = {00008-2018}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.1183/23120541.00008-2018}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Following pre-migration screening for tuberculosis (TB), migrants who are deemed to be at a high risk of developing TB must attend post-entry follow-up in Australia. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of post-migration TB follow-up in the state of New South Wales to diagnose TB in these high-risk migrants.In this retrospective cohort study, we assessed the risk of TB in migrants who arrived in New South Wales between 2000 and 2015 and were referred for post-migration follow-up. Clinical notes were examined for a nested cohort to determine whether TB was diagnosed via the follow-up programme or via passive case finding.Of the 32 550 migrants referred for follow-up, 428 (1.3\%) developed TB. The incidence of TB was 436 per 100 000 person-years (95\% CI 384{\textendash}491 per 100 000 person-years) in the first 2 years after arrival and 128 per 100 000 person-years (95\% CI 116{\textendash}140 per 100 000 person-years) over the mean study observation period of 10.3 years. An estimated 63\% of cases were diagnosed via follow-up. TB notifications occurred 0.55 years earlier since time of arrival in Australia in migrants who attended follow-up than in those who did not.Post-migration follow-up detected 63\% of TB cases in high-risk migrants and potentially prevented delay of TB diagnosis.Post-migration follow-up of high-risk migrants is partially effective in capturing TB cases http://ow.ly/KXrO30k4bcF}, URL = {https://openres.ersjournals.com/content/4/3/00008-2018}, eprint = {https://openres.ersjournals.com/content/4/3/00008-2018.full.pdf}, journal = {ERJ Open Research} }