PLoS ONE
Volume 12, Issue 6, 2017

Increasing prevalence of infectious diseases in asylum seekers at a tertiary care hospital in Switzerland (Article) (Open Access)

Bloch-Infanger C. , Bättig V. , Kremo J. , Widmer A.F. , Egli A. , Bingisser R. , Battegay M. , Erb S.*
  • a Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland, Departement of Internal Medicine, Kantonsspital Uri, Altdorf, Switzerland
  • b Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • c Private Medical Office, Basel, Switzerland
  • d Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • e Division of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • f Departement of Emergency, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • g Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • h Division of Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Abstract

Objective: The increasing number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe in recent years poses new challenges for the healthcare systems in the destination countries. The goal of the study was to describe the evolution of medical problems of asylum seekers at a tertiary care centre in Switzerland. Methods: At the University Hospital Basel, we compared all asylum seekers during two 1-year time periods in 2004/05 and 2014/15 concerning demographic characteristics and reasons for referrals and hospitalizations. Results: Hundred ninety five of 2’544 and 516 of 6’243 asylum seekers registered at the national asylum reception and procedure centre Basel were referred to the University Hospital Basel in 2004/05 and 2014/15, and originated mainly from Europe (62.3%, mainly Turkey) and Africa (49.1%, mainly Eritrea), respectively. Median age was similar in both study periods (26.9 and 26.2 years). Infectious diseases in asylum seekers increased from 22.6% to 36.6% (p<0.001) and were the main reasons for hospitalizations (33.3% of 45 and 55.6% of 81 hospitalized patients, p = 0.017) in 2004/05 compared to 2014/15. The leading infectious diseases in hospitalized patients were tuberculosis (n = 4) and bacterial skin infections (n = 2) in 2004/05; Malaria (n = 9), pneumonia (n = 6), Chickenpox (n = 5), other viral infections (n = 5) and bacterial skin infections (n = 5) in 2014/15. Infectious diseases like malaria, cutaneous diphtheria, louseborne-relapsing fever or scabies were only found in the second study period. Almost one third of the admitted asylum seekers required isolation precautions with median duration of 6–9.5 days in both study periods. Conclusions: The changing demography of asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland in the current refugee crisis has led to a shift in disease patterns with an increase of infectious diseases and the reemergence of migration-associated neglected infections. Physicians should be aware of these new challenges. © 2017 Bloch-Infanger et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

virus infection hospitalization refugee Eritrea clinical trial demography university hospital human Refugees controlled study Turkey (republic) Malaria chickenpox bacterial skin disease Skin Diseases, Bacterial asylum seeker Humans male female patient referral tuberculosis tertiary care center Tertiary Care Centers prevalence Borrelia infection Article major clinical study adult migration pneumonia age distribution infection diphtheria Switzerland
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85021109865&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0179537&partnerID=40&md5=9c0d55b5656a4cad875f259179d97d78
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179537
ISSN: 19326203
Cited by: 13
Original Language: English