Migration and infectious diseases: how we should be worried

Migration and infectious diseases: how we should be worried

Vincenzo D. Palumbo

Abstract

Migration is an intrinsic phenomenon of population dynamics, driven by socio-economic, political and environmental factors. The vast majority of refugees are hosted by low-income and middle-income countries (Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Iran alone host a quarter of the world’s 20 million refugees). There is no systematic association between migration and importation of infectious diseases. Indeed, migrants tend to be young and fit and so are potentially healthier than the general population. Among the published studies on migrants and infectious diseases, the majority were non-emergent diseases with the exception of MDR tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant bacteria. Far from being a biological threat, which they are often perceived as or accused of for political and social reasons, migrants and above all asylum seekers escaping from precarious situations cannot be systematically associated with the introduction of infectious pathogens in host countries.

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