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Conference Summary
Immigrant and Border Infectious
Disease Concerns for Women1
Alexandra Levitt,*
Michelle Weinberg,* Margarita Irizarry-De La Cruz,* and Gloria A. Kilanko†
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and
†Women Watch Afrika, Inc., Decatur, Georgia, USA
Suggested
citation for this article
Immigrant women may be at risk for diseases such as rubella (due to lack
of vaccination) or listeriosis (due to food preparation practices). They
may also face a variety of cultural and social barriers that prevent them
from obtaining adequate health care.
Mexico-U.S.
Border Infectious Disease Surveillance
The Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) project demonstrates
that a binational effort with local, state, and federal participation
can overcome political, cultural, and infrastructural barriers to create
a regional system for monitoring infectious diseases that crosses an international
border. Established in 1997 by the Mexican Secretariat of Health, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and border health officials,
BIDS has created a sentinel surveillance network that monitors hepatitis
and febrile exanthems at 13 clinics on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border.
As part of this effort, BIDS has developed binational surveillance protocols,
trained surveillance coordinators, established serologic testing at Mexican
border laboratories, and developed agreements for reporting and data-sharing.
In 1999, BIDS facilitated a binational vaccination campaign against rubella,
a disease that causes birth defects when it infects pregnant women.
Knowledge,
Attitudes, and Practices among Immigrant Hispanic Women Regarding Consumption
of High-Risk Foods
Hispanic/Latino immigrants are at high risk for listeriosis, a disease
that can cause severe pregnancy complications, including miscarriage,
stillbirth, uterine infection, premature labor, and death in the newborn
period. The goal of CDC’s Futura Mama program is to assess community attitudes
and knowledge about unpasteurized milk products (a common vehicle for
listeriosis) and use this information to develop culturally sensitive
disease prevention strategies. Eight focus groups were conducted in a
Hispanic/Latino immigrant community in Georgia. Most participants reported
regular consumption of homemade cheese and thought that unpasteurized
milk and milk products are healthier and tastier than store-bought products.
None of the participants were aware of listeriosis, of other infections
related to unpasteurized milk products, or of the association between
infection and pregnancy complications. Women <32 years of age were
more likely than those >32 years to accept the idea that health
risks are associated with unpasteurized milk products. The study concluded
that public health messages delivered through in-person formats (workshops
and discussion groups) and mass media may be effective in reducing the
risk of listeriosis in Hispanic/Latino communities.
Immigrant
Women and Challenges of Infectious Disease
Immigrant women must overcome cultural, linguistic, and economic barriers
to obtain basic healthcare services for themselves and their families.
Cultural barriers may include traditional practices that give boys and
men preference in access to medical services or that stigmatize a woman
who is known to be sick. A woman may be dependent on her husband to pay
her medical bills, or she may not be allowed to see a male physician on
the basis of her religion. In addition, she may be afraid to disclose
the source of a sexually transmitted infection, especially if it is the
result of sexual violence. Healthcare programs can help immigrant women
by working with community-based organizations to develop procedures and
attitudes that are more gender-sensitive and immigrant-friendly. Primary
care programs can hire and train culturally-diverse and multilingual staff
members who are sensitive to different cultures, traditions, and religions.
They can develop partnerships with other immigrant-serving agencies and
find ways to make healthcare services more attractive and accessible to
immigrant women.
Nongovernmental organizations that address the health concerns of Hispanic
and Latino immigrants might join forces with those that address the concerns
of immigrants from Africa and Asia to form a nationwide immigrant health
coalition, which represents all U.S. immigrants in policy-making situations.
1The following comments were made in presentations
by the above authors at the International Conference on Women and Infectious
Disease.
Suggested citation
for this article:
Levitt A, Weinberg
MK, Irizarry-De La Cruz M, Kilanko GA. Immigrant and border infectious
disease concerns for women. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet].
2004 November [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no11/04-0624_13.htm
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