[EQ] Preventing and controlling emerging and reemerging transmissible diseases in the homeless

Preventing and controlling emerging and reemerging transmissible diseases in the homeless

Sékéné Badiaga, Didier Raoult, and Philippe Brouqui
Author affiliations
Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Marseille, Marseille, France (S. Badiaga, D. Raoult, P. Brouqui); and Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France (D. Raoult, P. Brouqui)
Emerg Infect Dis - Volume 14, Number 9–September 2008. - DOI: 10.3201/eid1409.080204

Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/14/9/1353.htm

“…..Evidence suggests that appropriate public health interventions can be effective in preventing and controlling the spread of numerous transmitted diseases among homeless persons, which is a public health concern both for the homeless and the larger population. These interventions should be tailored to the targeted populations and focused on areas where the homeless are more likely to reside.

The strategies reported to be efficient include tailored education; distribution of free condoms; implementation of a syringe and needles prescription program for HIV and HCV; systematic chest radiography for TB screening in shelters and DOT for TB; improvement of personal, clothing, and bedding hygiene; use of ivermectin to treat pruritus most often caused by scabies or body louse infestation; and immunizations against HBV, HAV, influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and diphtheria.

Implementation of systematic vaccination schedules to prevent communicable diseases in the homeless is a major public health priority. The success of these interventions requires the implementation of a national public health prevention program for the homeless. A yearly snapshot intervention is 1 means to achieve these objectives….”

 

 

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