PLoS medicine
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Since 2008, the United States has issued between 2,000 and 19,000 Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) annually, with the majority issued to applicants from Iraq and Afghanistan. SIV holders (SIVH) are applicants who were employed by, or on behalf of, the US government or the US military. There is limited information about health conditions in SIV populations to help guide US clinicians caring for SIVH. Thus, we sought to describe health characteristics of recently arrived SIVH from Iraq and Afghanistan who were seen for domestic medical examinations. ⋯ In this analysis, we observed that 14% of SIV adults had LTBI, 27% of SIVH had at least one intestinal parasite, and about half of SIV children had EBLL. Most adults were susceptible to HBV. In general, prevalence of infection was higher for most conditions among Afghan SIVH compared to Iraqi SIVH. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for the US Domestic Medical Examination for Newly Arriving Refugees can assist state public health departments and clinicians in the care of SIVH during the domestic medical examination. Future analyses can explore other aspects of health among resettled SIV populations, including noncommunicable diseases and vaccination coverage.
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Comparative Study
Healthcare factors associated with the risk of antepartum and intrapartum stillbirth in migrants in Western Australia (2005-2013): A retrospective cohort study.
Migrant women, especially from Indian and African ethnicity, have a higher risk of stillbirth than native-born populations in high-income countries. Differential access or timing of ANC and the uptake of other services may play a role. We investigated the pattern of healthcare utilisation among migrant women and its relationship with the risk of stillbirth (SB)-antepartum stillbirth (AnteSB) and intrapartum stillbirth (IntraSB)-in Western Australia (WA). ⋯ Late commencement of ANC, underutilisation of interpreter services, and midwife-only intrapartum care are associated with increased risk of SB in migrant women. Education to improve early engagement with ANC, better uptake of interpreter services, and the provision of multidisciplinary-team intrapartum care to women specifically from African and 'other' backgrounds may reduce the risk of SB in migrants.
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Pediatric obesity is associated with increased risk of premature death from middle age onward, but whether the risk is already increased in young adulthood is unclear. The aim was to investigate whether individuals who had obesity in childhood have an increased mortality risk in young adulthood, compared with a population-based comparison group. ⋯ Our study shows that the risk of mortality in early adulthood may be higher for individuals who had obesity in childhood compared to a population-based comparison group.
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In an Editorial, Guest Editors Paul Spiegel, Terry McGovern and Kol Wickramage discuss the Special Issue on Refugee and Migrant Health.
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Comment
Self-palpation for detection of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: Much noise with little signal.
Kazem Rahimi and Paulus Kirchhof discuss the latest work from Faris Ghazal et al and how it may impact the way we currently detect Atrial Fibrillation in the general population.