INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF KHMER IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES: REVIEW OF PUBLISHED REPORTS

Authors

  • Florian H Pilsczek

Abstract

Infectious diseases are influenced by where patients have lived or travelled in the past, e.g.,infection with Schistosoma mekongi can be acquired during freshwater contact in Cambodia, butnot in the United States. Here the infectious diseases of Khmer immigrants in the United Stateswere studied by reviewing published reports. Thirteen case series and 9 case reports of 5,222patients were identified. Most reports were of infections with gastrointestinal parasites (8, 36%),Plasmodium species (3, 14%), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (3, 14%), and Mycobacterium leprae(2, 9%). Other reports included infections with Burkholderia pseudomallei, Trichinella spiralis,and Schistosoma japonicum. In conclusion, Khmer patients in the US can be infected withdifferent gastrointestinal parasites, different extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis have beenreported, and 2 reports of M. leprae were identified. A country-specific database for origin andcurrent residence for Khmer and other immigrant groups providing access to specialisedinformation may be useful for clinicians taking care of immigrants.Keywords: International Health, Immigrants, Cambodia

References

Gryseels B, Polman K, Clerinx J, Kestens L. Human

schistosomiasis. Lancet 2006;368:1106–18.

Fevre EM, Wissmann BV, Welburn SC, Lutumba P. The burden

of human African trypanosomiasis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis

;2(12):e333.

Koss SD, Reardon TF, Groves RJ. Recurrent carpal tunnel

syndrome due to tuberculoid leprosy in an Asian immigrant. J

Hand Surg Am 1993;18:740–2.

Mastro TD, Redd SC, Breiman RF. Imported leprosy in the

United States, 1978 through 1988: an epidemic without

secondary transmission. Am J Public Health 1992;82:1127–30.

Olsen A, van Lieshout L, Marti H, Polderman T, Polman K,

Steinmann P, et al. Strongyloidiasis--the most neglected of the

neglected tropical diseases? Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg

;103:967–72.

Nutman TB, Ottesen EA, Ieng S, Samuels J, Kimball E, Lutkoski

M, et al. Eosinophilia in Southeast Asian refugees: evaluation at

a referral center. J Infect Dis 1987;155:309–13.

Ooi WW, Moschella SL. Update on leprosy in immigrants in the

United States: status in the year 2000. Clin Infect Dis

;32:930–7.

Nwanyanwu OC, Moore JS, Adams ED. Parasitic infections in

Asian refugees in Fort Worth. Tex Med 1989;85:42–5.

Buchwald D, Lam M, Hooton TM. Prevalence of intestinal

parasites and association with symptoms in Southeast Asian

refugees. J Clin Pharm Ther 1995;20:271–5.

Hoffman SL, Barrett-Connor E, Norcross W, Nguyen D.

Intestinal parasites in Indochinese immigrants. Am J Trop Med

Hyg 1981;30:340–3.

Molina CD, Molina MM, Molina JM. Intestinal parasites in

Southeast Asian refugees two years after immigration. West J

Med 1988;149:422–5.

Lerman D, Barrett-Connor E, Norcross W. Intestinal parasites in

asymptomatic adult Southeast Asian immigrants. J Fam Pract

;15:443–6.

Roberts NS, Copel JA, Bhutani V, Otis C, Gluckman S. Intestinal

parasites and other infections during pregnancy in Southeast

Asian refugees. J Reprod Med 1985;30:720–5.

Lurio J, Verson H, Karp S. Intestinal parasites in Cambodians:

comparison of diagnostic methods used in screening refugees

with implications for treatment of populations with high rates of

infestation. J Am Board Fam Pract 1991;4:71–8.

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 40-1986. A 28-year-old

Cambodian immigrant woman with recent fever and abdominal

distention. N Engl J Med 1986;315:952–6.

J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2011;23(3)

http://www.ayubmed.edu.pk/JAMC/23-3/Florian.pdf

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 48-1986. A 20-year-old

Cambodian immigrant with systemic lupus erythematosus and

respiratory distress. N Engl J Med 1986;315:1469–77.

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 44-1991. A 17-year-old

Cambodian girl with recurrent abdominal pain and a tender mass

in the right lower quadrant. N Engl J Med 1991;325:1295–302.

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 40-1992. A 43-year-old

Cambodian man with several years of recurrent bouts of fever

and abdominal pain. N Engl J Med 1992;327:1081–7.

Guerrero IC, Chin W, Collins WE. A survey of malaria in

Indochinese refugees arriving in the United States, 1980. Am J

Trop Med Hyg 1982;31:897–901.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Malaria in

Montagnard refugees–North Carolina, 1992. MMWR Morb

Mortal Wkly Rep 1993;42:180–3.

Paxton LA, Slutsker L, Schultz LJ, Luby SP, Meriwether R,

Matson P, et al. Imported malaria in Montagnard refugees

settling in North Carolina: implications for prevention and

control. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1996;54:54–7.

Stehr-Green JK, Schantz PM. Trichinosis in Southeast Asian

refugees in the United States. Am J Public Health 1986;76:1238–9.

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 7-1989. A 32-year-old man of

Cambodian origin with a hepatic mass. N Engl J Med

;322:454–60.

Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly

clinicopathological exercises. Case 27-1988. A 25-year-old

Cambodian native with hematemesis. N Engl J Med

;319:37–44.

Firemark HM. Spinal cysticercosis. Arch Neurol 1978;35:250–1.

Dacso C. A sick cambodian refugee. Hosp Pract

;14(11):38,42,46.

Published

2011-09-01

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 3 (2011): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE, ABBOTTABAD

Section

REVIEW ARTICLE

License

Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License  CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.

USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.