Simit epidemiological multicentric study on hospitalized immigrants in Italy during 2002.
The aim of this article is to retrospectively evaluate the patient characteristics and the most common infectious diseases in immigrant patients hospitalized in 46 Italian infectious disease clinics during 2002. The main Italian infectious disease clinics were invited to fill in a questionnaire that regarded the number and type of hospital admissions, the country of origin, and demographic features (age, sex, and resident state) of immigrants. A total of 46 clinics including 2255 patients participated in the study. Most patients were men (63%) with an age between 16 and 40 years (63.4%) covered by the National Health Service (71%) and coming from Africa (44.3%). The main infectious diseases observed were: 378 (16.76%) cases of HIV infection, 303 (13.43%) cases of tuberculosis diseases, 282 (12.5%) cases of various forms of viral hepatitis, 177 (7.84%) cases of respiratory diseases, and 196 (8.69%) gastrointestinal diseases. Tropical diseases found were 134 (5.94%) including 95 cases of malaria (70.9%). In conclusion, a broad range of diseases was noted in immigrants which were directly correlated with conditions of poverty. Only a few tropical diseases were diagnosed and therefore the immigrant should not be considered as an infectious disease carrier.
Scotto
G
G
SIMIT (Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases) Committee for Study of Infectious Diseases in Immigrants, Infectious Diseases Clinic, University of Foggia, Via Mastelloni 17, 71100 Foggia, Italy. g.scotto@medicina.unifg.it
Saracino
A
A
Pempinello
R
R
El Hamad
I
I
Geraci
S
S
Panunzio
M
M
Palumbo
E
E
Cibelli
D C
DC
Angarano
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011203:Poverty; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology
Ann Ig. 2003 May-Jun;15(3):261-70
12910879
Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2003;83(1-3):21-9
12758185
J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2002 May;14(5):194
12051141
Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin. 2003 Dec;21(10):540-2
14642251
Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2002 Sep;21(9):830-4
12352804
J Immigr Health. 2003 Jan;5(1):19-28
14512755
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2003 Jul;69(1):115-21
12932108
Lancet Infect Dis. 2003 Nov;3(11):681
14603887