ABSTRACT
Rapid rise of population migration is a defining feature of the 21st century due to the impact of climate change, political instability, and socioeconomic downturn. Over the last decade, an increasing number of migrant peoples travel across the Americas to reach the United States seeking asylum or cross the border undocumented in search of economic opportunities. In this journey, migrant people experience violations of their human rights, hunger, illness, violence and have limited access to medical care. In the 'Divine Comedy', the Italian poet Dante Alighieri depicts his allegorical pilgrimage across Hell and Purgatory to reach Paradise. More than 700 years after its publication, Dante's poem speaks to the present time and the perilious journey of migrant peoples to reach safehavens. By exploring the depths and heights of the human condition, Dante's struggles resonate with the multiple barriers and the unfathomable experiences faced by migrant peoples in transit across South, Central, and North America to reach the United States. Ensuring the safety of migrant peoples across the Americas and elsewhere, and attending to their health needs during their migratory paths represent modern priorities to reduce social injustices and achieving health equity.
Subject(s)
Transients and Migrants , Americas , Developing Countries , Humans , Italy , Population Dynamics , United StatesABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: International and domestic travelers may acquire a wide variety of infectious diseases transmitted by exposure to insects. Exposure to ticks may be associated with systemic infections clinically suspected through skin and soft tissue manifestations along with fever, myalgia, headache, and other related symptoms. Cutaneous lesions may include eschars at the site of initial contact, maculopapular rashes, or others as the result of systemic dissemination of viral, Rickettsial, parasitic, and protozoan infections acquired by exposure to different types of ticks. RECENT FINDINGS: Ticks represent the second most common global vector of transmission of infectious diseases to humans after mosquitoes. In some endemic regions, ticks are the most important vector of transmission of a great variety of infectious pathogens including protozoan (Babesia spp.), viral (Coltivirus), rickettsia, and bacterial infections (Francisella tularensis). With increasing international travel, different tick-borne diseases continue to emerge and being identified. SUMMARY: Identifying the cutaneous signs associated with tick-borne diseases is crucial to clinically suspect the diagnosis of a specific tick-borne illness. Minimizing the exposure to ticks during domestic or international travel represents the most important intervention to reducing the risk of tick-borne illnesses.