5666 Department of Nutrition and Health Science, Ball State University College of Health, Muncie, IN, USA.
6567 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PolicyLab, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2021 Jan/Feb;136(1):117-123. doi: 10.1177/0033354920971720. Epub 2020 Nov 18.
Immigrants are believed to be at high risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A leading suspected risk factor is their role in the essential workforce. We aimed to describe COVID-19-related risk factors among Bhutanese and Burmese refugees in the United States.
We administered an anonymous online survey in May 2020 among community leaders of Bhutanese and Burmese refugees. Using a snowball sampling strategy, we invited community leaders to complete the survey and share the link with others who met inclusion criteria (English proficient, aged ≥18, currently living in the United States). We compared respondents with and without recent COVID-19 and identified risk factors for infection.
Of 218 refugees in 23 states who completed the survey from May 15 through June 1, 2020, fifteen (6.9%) reported infection with COVID-19. Being an essential worker during the pandemic (odds ratio [OR] = 5.25; 95% CI, 1.21-22.78), having an infected family member (OR = 26.92; 95% CI, 5.19-139.75), and being female (OR = 5.63; 95% CI, 1.14-27.82) were risk factors for infection. Among 33 infected family members, 23 (69.7%) were essential workers.
Although we had a small snowball sample, we found that working in essential industries was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 infection among Bhutanese and Burmese refugees. We call for larger studies that include Asian immigrant subgroups, as well as immediate attention to protecting immigrant essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
据信，移民感染严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（导致 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的病毒）的风险很高。一个主要的疑似危险因素是他们在基本劳动力中的作用。我们旨在描述美国不丹和缅甸难民中与 COVID-19 相关的危险因素。
我们于 2020 年 5 月对不丹和缅甸难民的社区领导人进行了一项匿名在线调查。我们采用滚雪球抽样策略，邀请社区领导人完成调查，并与符合纳入标准（精通英语，年龄≥18 岁，目前居住在美国）的其他人分享链接。我们比较了有近期 COVID-19 感染和无近期 COVID-19 感染的受访者，并确定了感染的危险因素。
2020 年 5 月 15 日至 6 月 1 日，来自 23 个州的 218 名难民完成了调查，其中 15 人（6.9%）报告感染了 COVID-19。在大流行期间从事基本工作（比值比[OR] = 5.25；95%置信区间，1.21-22.78）、有感染的家庭成员（OR = 26.92；95%置信区间，5.19-139.75）和女性（OR = 5.63；95%置信区间，1.14-27.82）是感染的危险因素。在 33 名受感染的家庭成员中，有 23 人（69.7%）从事基本工作。
尽管我们的雪球样本很小，但我们发现从事基本行业与不丹和缅甸难民 COVID-19 感染风险增加有关。我们呼吁开展包括亚洲移民亚群在内的更大规模研究，并在 COVID-19 大流行期间立即关注保护移民基本工人。
