Screening for Neglected Tropical Diseases and other infections in African refugees and asylum seekers in Rome and Lazio region, Italy

Background: Few reliable data are available on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and other infections among African refugees and asylum seekers in Italy.We aimed to estimate the prevalence of NTDs and other infections in a large cohort of African refugees and asylum seekers living in reception cent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease
Main Authors: R. Marrone, C. Mazzi, H. Ouattara, M. Cammilli, D. Pontillo, F. Perandin, Z. Bisoffi
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023
Subjects:
Schistosomiasis
Strongyloidiasis
NTD
Refugees
Asylum seekers
Infectious disease screening
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2023.102649
https://doaj.org/article/9ac40feaf56e47709319b877f36ca105
Description
Summary:Background: Few reliable data are available on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and other infections among African refugees and asylum seekers in Italy.We aimed to estimate the prevalence of NTDs and other infections in a large cohort of African refugees and asylum seekers living in reception centers in Lazio, Italy. Material and methods: This is an observational, prospective prevalence study on infectious diseases in a large population of African refugees and asylum seekers (936 overall) consecutively enrolled for screening purpose at the Infectious and Tropical diseases outpatient clinic of the National Institute of Migrant and Poverty (INMP), Rome from August 2019 to December 2020. Results: We found a prevalence of 8.8 % and 31 % for Strongyloides and schistosoma infection, respectively, while the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was 0.7 %, HCV antibodies2.5%, hepatitis B virus surface antigen 10.8 % and syphilis serological tests 2.9 %. Conclusion: Strongyloidiasis and schistosomiasis are highly prevalent among African refugees and asylum seekers in Italy, in contrast to communicable diseases (with the exception of hepatitis B).Raising awareness of NTDs among health professionals and implementing guidelines seems to be of paramount importance to prevent these diseases and their sufferers from becoming even more “neglected”.

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