World Health Organisation and public health authority records show that 175 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were imported to industrialised countries between 1975 and 1984. Detailed case reports were therefore analysed to identify characteristic features associated with acquisition of the infection. Of the 175 cases, 96 (55%) were diagnosed in foreign workers or their families, 47 (27%) in nat...

0489 Following last December’s tsunami, Thailand reported 10,385 deaths and missing persons among Thais and foreign tourists, 80% of them in Phang Nga province (Figure 1). These reported tsunami deaths do not include Burmese migrant workers, which one local organisation estimates as being as many as 1,000 individuals [1]. Medical relief to Thai nationals and Western victims was well organised [...

Are immigrants who live in states where large numbers of their compatriots reside more or less likely to migrate than those who live in other states? Using 1980 U.S. Census data to address that question, the analysis shows that nativity concentration deters interstate migration but not migration within the same state. Residing in a state where fellow nationals live is a more important determina...

AIM To assess the relationship between nationality, gender and age and use of health services among patients visiting an urban university hospital emergency department (ED). INTRODUCTION ED crowding is an increasingly significant national and international problem. Overcrowding has many potential detrimental effects, including frustration for patients and ED personnel and greater risk of poor...