Fernández-Santos Nadia A, Hamer Gabriel L, Garrido-Lozada Edith G, Rodríguez-Pérez Mario A
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Reynosa 88710, Mexico.
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Trop Med Infect Dis. 2022 Sep 24;7(10):262. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed7100262.
Few reports exist on the COVID-19 epidemiology of migrant populations. We tested 370 migratory individuals from ten countries arriving at a migrant house along the US-Mexico border based on a rapid assay detecting SARS-CoV-2 antigen. Fifty-six were positive, for a prevalence of 15.1% (95%-CIs of 11.8-19.2%). Only 21 positive persons presented signs or symptoms associated with the infection (95%-CIs = 25-49%). Most (51.7%) positive migrants arrived in the previous two days before being tested, indicating that the virus infection was acquired during their transit. Out of the total of 56 positive individuals, 37.5% were from El Salvador, 33.9% from Honduras, and 21.4% from Guatemala. This study suggests that vulnerable populations traveling from countries in Latin America and seeking residence in the US are high-risk individuals for exposure to SARS-CoV-2. The rapid antigen COVID-19 testing on arrival at the migrant house, and subsequent 10-day quarantine, was a critical step to help minimize further transmission. Therefore, the present study demonstrates that public health services provided to migratory and vulnerable populations are necessary for pandemic control.
关于新冠病毒在流动人口中的流行病学情况，现有报道较少。我们基于一种检测新冠病毒抗原的快速检测方法，对来自十个国家、抵达美墨边境一处移民安置点的370名移民进行了检测。其中56人呈阳性，患病率为15.1%（95%置信区间为11.8 - 19.2%）。只有21名阳性人员出现了与感染相关的体征或症状（95%置信区间 = 25 - 49%）。大多数（51.7%）阳性移民在接受检测的前两天抵达，这表明他们在途中感染了病毒。在总共56名阳性个体中，37.5%来自萨尔瓦多，33.9%来自洪都拉斯，21.4%来自危地马拉。这项研究表明，从拉丁美洲国家前往美国寻求居留的弱势群体是感染新冠病毒的高危人群。在移民安置点对抵达者进行快速抗原新冠病毒检测，并随后进行10天隔离，是帮助最大限度减少进一步传播的关键一步。因此，本研究表明，为流动人口和弱势群体提供公共卫生服务对于疫情防控是必要的。
