Health status of Southeast Asian refugees

The rates of several diseases have been reported to be higher among Southeast Asian refugees compared with those of indigenous North Americans. When we prospectively evaluated 991 refugees new to the Denver metropolitan area for their health and immunization status over a 12-month period, 38% were found to be tuberculin-positive, 71% carried one or more enteric parasites, 15% were HBsAg-positive, 13% had anemia and 31% either presented without immunization records or required continuation of vaccination sequences begun in overseas camps. Age and ethnicity were important variables with regard to tuberculosis, hepatitis B and anemia. The rates of specific parasitic infestations varied among the four ethnic groups, though the overall rates of parasitosis remained constant across ethnic lines.