Comparison of two strategies to prevent varicella outbreaks in housing facilities for asylum seekers.

Background: The proportion of adults with positive varicella serology is lower in populations from tropical countries. Therefore immigrants to countries with a temperate climate are at risk of acquiring varicella infection during adulthood.

Methods: We tested two different strategies to prevent varicella outbreaks in housing facilities for asylum seekers arriving in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

[Strengthening of social laws and the health of asylum seekers].

Limited access to care due to the new laws and to the patient's state of deprivation can prevent the physician from fulfilling his main duty: to respect principals of medical ethics, and to make the patient feels better without causing harm. In which case, the doctor could become an accomplice of the patient's state of deprivation. A local interdisciplinary working group defined medical criteria for asylum seekers in the Canton of Vaud which justifies health insurance coverage and/or accommodation adapted to the patient's state of health.