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Infectious diseases in sub-Saharan African immigrant children in Madrid, Spain
Helena Huerga1, Rogelio Lopez-Velez
1Tropical Medicine Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
Insights
Imported infectious diseases are common in sub-Saharan African children immigrating to Europe. Screening is essential, as many asymptomatic children carried infections like malaria and filariasis.
Area of Science:
- Tropical Medicine
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Immigration Health
Background:
- Growing immigration from developing to European countries.
- Limited data on infectious diseases in immigrant children.
- Focus on sub-Saharan African child population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence of imported infectious diseases in sub-Saharan African children in Spain.
- To identify common infections and associated symptoms.
- To highlight the need for targeted screening.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive, retrospective study.
- 125 sub-Saharan African children (<14 years) attended a tropical medicine unit (1989-2001).
- Screening for various infectious diseases including malaria, filariasis, intestinal parasites, hepatitis B/C, and tuberculosis.
Main Results:
- 79% of children had symptoms; 21% were asymptomatic but screened.
- 57.7% of asymptomatic children had infections.
- High prevalence of malaria (44.8%), intestinal parasites (49.4%), and filariasis (21.9%).
- Significant associations found between symptoms (fever, pruritus) and specific infections.
- Hepatitis B (6.6% antigen-positive) and latent tuberculosis (12.9%) also detected.
Conclusions:
- Sub-Saharan African immigrant children exhibit high rates of imported infectious diseases.
- Screening is crucial for early detection and management.
- Findings underscore the importance of health surveillance for this population.
Background:
Immigration flow from developing countries to European countries is growing continually, but data about imported infectious diseases in immigrant children are few.
Methods:
Descriptive and retrospective study of 125 sub-Saharan African children <14 years of age attending a tropical medicine referral unit in Madrid, Spain, between 1989 and 2001.
Results:
Of the 125 children 79% had 1 or more symptoms. The remaining 21% (26 cases) were asymptomatic and were screened for infectious diseases. Of them 57.7% (15 cases) had 1 or more infectious diseases. Significant association ( < 0.05) was found between fever and malaria, between cutaneous pruritus and filariasis and between eosinophilia and filariasis and intestinal helminthiasis. Seventy-nine percent had infectious pathology and 33.3% were infected by 3 or more agents. Fifty-six (44.8%) cases of malaria were diagnosed: 7 (12.5%) were asymptomatic; 43 (76.8%) were caused by and 5 (8.9%) were mixed malarial infections. Intestinal parasitic infection was diagnosed in 44 (49.4%) of the 89 cases investigated. No significant difference existed between gastrointestinal symptoms and the presence of intestinal parasites ( > 0.05). Thirty-nine (21.9%) cases of filariasis were diagnosed. Hepatitis B serology was performed in 75 children: 24 (32%) were cured hepatitis B (antibody-positive only); 5 (6.6%) were hepatitis B surface antigen-positive; and 1 of 59 cases (1.7%) was hepatitis C-positive. The prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection was 12.9% (7 of 54 purified protein derivative skin tests performed).
Conclusions:
The high infection rates of some diseases in immigrant children point to the need for screening sub-Saharan African children.