[Opinion Survey of Paediatricians on Vaccination Status of Refugee Children - Challenges of a Medical Connection to the Regular Outpatient Care System].

Background: In addition to the primary health care of refugees, their integration into the regular outpatient care system should be ensured. Initial data suggest that a gap of vaccination among (school) children of refugee families might have emerged in the period between the first general inspection on arrival (the first central health measure) and the transition to the local health care system.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to obtain the opinion of practicing paediatricians regarding the vaccination status of refugee children to examine whether a variance in the measles, mumps, rubella (varicella) vaccination schedule might have emerged between the periods of initial admission and school enrolment examination.

Short-Term Influence of Caffeine and Medium-Chain Triglycerides on Ketogenesis: A Controlled Double-Blind Intervention Study.

Background: Ketone bodies are a highly relevant topic in nutrition and medicine. The influence of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) on ketogenesis is well known and has been successfully used in ketogenic diets for many years. Nevertheless, the effects of MCTs and coconut oil on the production of ketone bodies have only partially been investigated.

Prevalence of latent tuberculosis in homeless persons: A single-centre cross-sectional study, Germany.

Purpose: Homeless persons have a high risk for tuberculosis. The prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection and the risk for a progression to active tuberculosis is higher in the homeless than in the general population. The objective was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of tuberculosis/latent tuberculosis infection in a homeless population in Germany.

[The Humanitarian Charter and minimum standards in humanitarian response are applicable in German refugee facilities].

Background: In recent refugee migration into Germany the responsibilities and reactions of health authorities are still lacking general co-ordination.

Problem: Can the ethical and technical standards of international humanitarian assistance serve as an appropriate and even a compulsory guideline for relief agencies, public health and regulatory authorities in Germany?

Methods: Documents from the field of medical ethics, medical law, international humanitarian law and disaster medicine will be examined and checked for practicability by consulting experiences during the 1990s Balkan wars refugee movement and international missions of relief agencies.

Results: Ethical and technical standards of international humanitarian assistance have been developed, improved and evaluated for 20 years, and are valuable tools for emergency management.

Primary health care in complex humanitarian emergencies: Rwanda and Kosovo experiences and their implications for public health training.

In a complex humanitarian emergency, a catastrophic breakdown of political, economic, and social systems, often accompanied by violence, contributes to a long-lasting dependency of the affected communities on external service. Relief systems, such as the Emergency Response Units of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have served as a sound foundation for fieldwork in humanitarian emergencies. The experience in emergencies gained in Rwanda in 1994 and Kosovo in 1999 clearly points to the need for individual adjustments of therapeutic standards to preexisting morbidity and health care levels within the affected population.