Increasing Hepatitis B Vaccine Prevalence Among Refugee Children Arriving in the United States, 2006-2012.

Objectives: To determine whether the addition of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine to national immunization programs improved vaccination rates among refugee children, a marginalized population with limited access to care.

Methods: The sample included 2291 refugees younger than 19 years who completed HBV screening after arrival in the United States. Children were categorized by having been born before or after the addition of the 3-dose HBV vaccine to their birth country's national immunization program.

Health Profiles of Newly Arrived Refugee Children in the United States, 2006-2012.

Objectives: We conducted a large-scale study of newly arrived refugee children in the United States with data from 2006 to 2012 domestic medical examinations in 4 sites: Colorado; Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington State.

Methods: Blood lead level, anemia, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, tuberculosis infection or disease, and Strongyloides seropositivity data were available for 8148 refugee children (aged < 19 years) from Bhutan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Somalia.

Results: We identified distinct health profiles for each country of origin, as well as for Burmese children who arrived in the United States from Thailand compared with Burmese children who arrived from Malaysia.

Hepatitis B screening and prevalence among resettled refugees - United States, 2006-2011.

Globally, more than two billion persons have been infected at some time with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and approximately 3.5 million refugees have chronic HBV infection. The endemicity of HBV varies by region.

The urban homeless: super-users of the emergency department.

In the United States, patient usage of costly emergency departments (EDs) has been portrayed as a major factor contributing to health care expenditures. The homeless are associated with ED frequent users, a population often blamed for inappropriate ED use. This study examined the characteristics and costs associated with homeless ED frequent users.

Global health at home: a student-run community health initiative for refugees.

Free, student-run health initiatives for refugees fill a gap in needed health services and prepare medical students for understanding cross-cultural and systems-based medical practice.

Factors associated with use of urban emergency departments by the U.S. homeless population.

Objective: Homeless individuals frequently use emergency departments (EDs), but previous studies have investigated local rather than national ED utilization rates. This study sought to characterize homeless people who visited urban EDs across the U.S.