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

• 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

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”.