Preparing for refugee crises in Australia: Kosovar health surveillance.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Australia provided a temporary safe haven for nearly 4,000 Kosovar refugees in response to a request for assistance from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). From May 7, 1999, eleven groups of between 50 and 450 refugees arrived in Australia at 2 to 7 day intervals. The refugees were initially received at East Hills Reception Centre in Sydney for health checks and immigration formalities, then transferred to ‘safe havens’ across five States. By the ninth flight, 3,397 refugees had arrived. Most (59%) were between 16 and 65 years of age; specifically 62 (2%) were less than 1 year of age, 1,342 (40%) were between 1 and 15 years and 45 (1%) were older than 65 years of age. All refugees completed a questionnaire on health symptoms to identify communicable disease risks and the need for urgent medical care. Of the 3,397 people on flights 1 to 9, 97 reported a cough of more than 2 weeks duration, 68 a productive cough, 9 blood in phlegm, 26 fever, 83 night sweats, 27 diarrhoea, and 30 a rash of less than 4 days duration. A total of 543 (16%) reported an urgent need to see a doctor. Presentations at the acute care clinic were mainly for upper respiratory infections (15%), gastrointestinal illness (13%) or ear-related problems (10%). There were no disease outbreaks in the period at East Hills.
منابع مشابه
Operation Safe Haven: an evaluation of health surveillance and monitoring in an acute setting.
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Communicable diseases intelligence
دوره 23 11 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1999