Persistent infectious and tropical diseases in immigrant correctional populations.

A number of infectious diseases amongst travelers and the immigrant populations are a major public health concern. Some have a long incubation period or remain asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic for many years before leading to significant clinical manifestations and/or complications. HIV, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis or latent syphilis are among the most significant persistent diseases in migrants. Schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis, for instance, are persistent helminthic infections that may cause significant morbidity, particularly in patients co-infected with HIV, hepatitis B and C. Chagas disease, which was initially confined to Latin America, must also now be considered in immigrants from endemic countries. Visceral leishmaniasis and malaria are other examples of parasitic diseases that must be taken into account by physicians treating incarcerated migrants. The focus of this review article is on the risk of neglected tropical diseases in particularly vulnerable correctional populations and on the risk of infectious diseases that commonly affect migrants but which are often underestimated.

[Persistent tropical diseases among migrants]. / Maladies tropicates persistantes chez les migrants.

Several infectious diseases may remain a- or pauci-symptomatic for many years before causing major clinical manifestations. Migrants are particularly vulnerable to several persistent infectious diseases due to exposure in their country of origin and their specific living conditions. This article emphasizes neglected parasitic diseases among migrants, such as schistosomiasis, strongyloidiasis and Chagas disease. In the case of co-infection with HIV, hepatitis B and C, some of these persistent parasitosis may induce more significant morbidity. These aspects are particularly important to know as these diseases, both viral and parasitic, are particularly common among migrants.