Prejudice and reality about infection risk among Syrian refugees.

In their Personal View, Mishal Kahn and colleagues1Khan MS Osei-Kofi A Omar A et al.Pathogens, prejudice, and politics: the role of the global health community in the European refugee crisis.Lancet Infect Dis. 2016; 16: e173-e177Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (53) Google Scholar propose that policy decisions about the risks of infectious diseases among migrants and refugees should be based on evidence for health risks and burdens to health systems, rather than prejudice or unfounded fears. Although the perception and generalisation that migrants and refugees carry a higher load of infectious diseases is questionable, it is undeniable that the Syrian conflict produced suitable conditions leading to the re-emergence of tuberculosis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, poliomyelitis, and measles.2Ozaras R Leblebicioglu H Sunbul M et al.The Syrian conflict and infectious diseases.Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2016; 14: 547-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (55) Google Scholar In this Correspondence we aim to add data about infections in Syrian refugees. As of July 20, 2016, Turkey hosts 2·7 million of 4·8 million Syrian refugees.3The UN Refugee AgencySyria regional refugee response; Inter-agency Information Sharing Portal.http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.phpGoogle Scholar In Turkey, 10 689 refugees were screened for tuberculosis by the Ministry of Health in 2014–15 and the prevalence was 18·7 per 100 000, which is not higher than that in the Turkish population. Thereafter, Turkey discontinued screening refugees for tuberculosis. However, most refugees are not in the camps; they are living in even worse conditions in big cities and many are homeless. Rate of tuberculosis might be higher in these groups. Lebanon and Jordan have increased rates of tuberculosis among Syrian refugees compared with resident populations. There is an ongoing cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreak in Syria, and breakdown in disease control programmes and disruption of the health services has caused a further increase in cases. Recent news reports claimed that corpses thrown into Syrian streets are causing cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreaks. However, cutaneous leishmaniasis is transmitted only by sandfly vector and female sandflies require the blood of living animals to develop their eggs—they do not feed on human remains. The coverage rate of polio vaccination decreased to 60% in 2012 and even to 50% in some regions and more than half of 2 million children born after the conflict could not be vaccinated. After a polio-free 15 years, Syria reported a poliomyelitis outbreak of 37 cases in 2013. One case was reported in 2014, with no new cases reported since. Any misinformation reported in the press and on social media about refugees is the source of prejudice among the public and it should be firmly countered by evidence and epidemiological data. We declare no competing interests. Pathogens, prejudice, and politics: the role of the global health community in the European refugee crisisInvoluntary migration is a crucially important global challenge from an economic, social, and public health perspective. The number of displaced people reached an unprecedented level in 2015, at a total of 60 million worldwide, with more than 1 million crossing into Europe in the past year alone. Migrants and refugees are often perceived to carry a higher load of infectious diseases, despite no systematic association. We propose three important contributions that the global health community can make to help address infectious disease risks and global health inequalities worldwide, with a particular focus on the refugee crisis in Europe. Full-Text PDF