TY - JOUR
TI - Migrant screening: Lessons learned from the migrant holding level at the
Greek-Turkish borders
AU - Eonomopoulou, Assimoula
AU - Pavli, Androula
AU - Stasinopoulou, Panagiota
AU - and Giannopoulos, Lambros A.
AU - Tsiodras, Sotirios
JO - Journal of Infection and Public Health
PY - 2017
VL - 10
TODO - 2
SP - 177-184
PB - ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
SN - 1876-0341
TODO - 10.1016/j.jiph.2016.04.012
TODO - Migrants; Detention centers; Diseases; Surveillance
TODO - In March 2011, a migrant health project became operational that aimed to
provide medical and psychosocial support to migrants at the Greek
Turkish border. The aim of this study is to describe common syndromes,
the communicable disease profile and vaccination patterns in newly
arrived migrants through a surveillance system that was based on medical
records data as well as screening procedures.
Data were collected prospectively using one standardized form per
patient including demographic information, civil status, and medical and
vaccination history. A tuberculin screening test (TST) and serological
testing for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C were performed after
obtaining informed consent.
A total of 6899 migrants were screened, the majority of whom were male
(91%) and 18-31 years old (85%), with a mean age of 25.3 years. Of all
patients, 2.5% received secondary care. Common complaints and diagnoses
included respiratory infections (23%) and myalgia (18%). The
tuberculin screening test (TST) was positive in 7.8% out of 1132
patients tested. Out of 632 migrants, 0.3%, 3.2% and 0.8% tested
positive for HIV, hepatitis Band hepatitis C, respectively. Overall,
22.3% of adults were vaccinated against poliomyelitis. Irregular
migrants that enter Greek borders are generally in good health.
Nevertheless, the risk of spreading communicable diseases is an
important issue to consider among migrants at the holding level due to
severe overcrowding conditions. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen
surveillance and implement harmonized screening procedures with the aim
of providing sustainable and good quality services that are focused on
prevention and early treatment. (C) 2016 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz
University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited. All
rights reserved.
ER -