Les malalties importades i la població immigrant Descripció i anàlisi de la situació a la zona Metropolitana nord de Barcelona (2002-2011)

Abstract

This thesis examines and analyzes a ten years-long (2002-2011) health data from the established immigrant population within the Metropolitan Area north of the city of Barcelona, mostly from Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Badalona cities. These 10 years coincide with one of the larger immigrant influx ever received in Catalonia; formerly, other immigration waves had already taken place in comparable numbers but, however, the country had never seen anything similar with respect to the variety of newcomer’s origins. Therefore, and from the epidemiological point of view, the scenario reflected by the articles comprised in this thesis could be considered as exceptional. Furthermore, the studies can display an additional interest since the data have been collected both at primary care (the North Metropolitan International Health Unit) and at hospital third-level (the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol) and as the compared populations have been defined on the basis of their biogeographical origin. The general objective of the thesis is really an extensive one. Thus, it was divided into three main sections that attempt to answer the questions of: a) ¿what are the imported diseases diagnosed in the newly arrived immigrants?, b) ¿what is the role of Visiting Friends and Relatives immigrant travelers as potential carriers of imported diseases? and, c) ¿is the immigrant population more vulnerable to endemic European diseases than autochthonous? Regarding the presence of endemic tropical diseases imported from the newly established immigrants we can conclude that they do not set a main health problem in terms of frequency or Public Health impact with the possible exception of those diseases that have prolonged periods of healthy carrier, such as chronic viral hepatitis or Chagas infection. Regarding the second point, the answer is emphatic: immigrants who visit their families after years of residing in Europe are a population that has a significant and growing number of imported endemic tropical diseases, some of them potentially serious. Adult immigrants are comparatively more vulnerable to certain European diseases than adult European-born adults, as the case excess of varicella among immigrants exemplifies. Therefore, the screening of some infectious diseases among newly arrived healthy immigrants on the basis of their biogeographical origin and the presence personal risk factors could be pertinent and relevant. Pre-travel preventive activities should be redirected towards the travelling immigrant population since on them concur many risk factors for contracting and import tropical endemic diseases, sometimes serious. Some specific immigrant adult populations have a superior vulnerability to common transmissible infectious diseases in Europe, offering preventive measures should be considered.

Date of Award	3 Apr 2013
Original language	Catalan
Supervisor	Miquel Sabria Leal (Director) & Xavier de Balanzó Fernández (Director)