• Júnior Jucier Gonçalves JG Department of Internal Medicine, Santa casa de Misericórdia de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil., Jair Paulino de Sales, Marcial Moreno Moreira, Woneska Rodrigues Pinheiro, Carlos Kennedy Tavares Lima, and Modesto Leite Rolim Neto.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Santa casa de Misericórdia de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
• Psychiatry Res. 2020 Jun 1; 288: 113000.

Background68.5 million people around the world have been forced to leave their houses. Refugees have mainly to face their adaption in a host country, which involves bureaucracy, different culture, poverty, and racism. The already fragile situation of refugees becomes worrying and challenged in the face of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Therefore, we aimed to describe the factors that can worsen the mental health of refugees.MethodThe studies were identified in well-known international journals found in three electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. The data were cross-checked with information from the main international newspapers.ResultsAccording to the literature, the difficulties faced by refugees with the COVID-19 pandemic are potentiated by the pandemic state. There are several risk factors common to coronavirus and psychiatric illnesses as overcrowding, disruption of sewage disposal, poor standards of hygiene, poor nutrition, negligible sanitation, lack of access to shelter, health care, public services, and safety. These associated with fear and uncertainty create a closed ground for psychological sickness and COVID-19 infection.ConclusionsThere should be not only a social mobilization to contain the virus, but also a collective effort on behalf of the most vulnerable populations.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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