EH 2_2016

June 22nd -24th , 2016 Paris, France THE EUROPEAN FORUM FOR THOSE IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING HEALTHCARE WORK V O L 2 5 I S S U E 2 / 1 6 • M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 6 DIGITAL PATHOLOGY 10-13 • Dawn breaks over new diagnostics • Boom go morphology & pathology • Strategies for workflow integration 4K MONITORS 5-9 • Out goes pixellation • Quality never seen before • Tele-conferencing ups size and res CONTENTS NEWS & MANAGEMENT 1-4 4K-SPECIAL 5-9 DIGITALE PATHOLOGIE 9-13 LABORATORY 17-20 RADIOLOGY 21-23 IT & TELEMED 24-25 www.healthcare-in-europe.com Politicians and health profession- als worldwide face a number of unique public health challenges due to migrations. Thousands upon thousands of humans have taken and are continuing to take flight from wars, persecution and economic stress, seeking the chance of survival in European and other countries. They arrive not only physically exhausted, but also in mourning for those killed in their own countries, or during hellish journeys – therefore many also suf- fer unimaginable mental traumas. Clearly they need healthcare on several levels. This April in Amsterdam, for the 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ECCMID), 340 late-break- er abstracts were submitted, 25 of which related to refugee health. Seven among those were chosen for airing. What they highlighted is the need for comprehensive screening programmes, improved therapy, and vaccination coverage in countries that have received and/or are receiv- ing refugees. Why? On top of the obvious physical and mental damage to these incomers, as Winfried Kern Programme Director of ECCMID said, researchers in various coun- tries have observed an increased prevalence of resistant pathogens, or emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases, including HIV, TB, salmo- nella, shigella, scabies and other parasitic infections. ‘Healthcare ser- vices across the world are facing a number of new challenges as a result of recent mass migration,’ Kern confirmed. ‘Refugees may carry both resistant pathogens and microbes, causing the emergence or evidence from health services in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Norway, Brazil and the Netherlands regarding some of those challenges. Denmark A study of HIV care among refugees and family-reunified migrants com- pared to Danish-born individuals compared 405 migrants and 279 Danish-born citJANKAens The inci- dence of HIV infection among the immigrants proved higher than that of Danish-born individuals. The highest risk was observed in sub-Saharan Africans and het- erosexual cohorts, and refugee and family-reunified migrants were also more likely to seek medical treat- ment late, further increasing the risk of spreading the infection. The researchers postulated that these results indicate migrants expe- rience barriers in accessing HIV test- ing and call for a more systematic medical reception of newly arrived migrants in recipient countries. Switzerland An abstract on the prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens – MRSA and ESBL – at four Swiss refugee centres showed that refugees (irre- spective of origin) had colonisation rates that were ten times higher for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and five times high- er for extended spectrum beta-lacta- mase (ESBL) compared to the local population. The researchers also observed re-emergence of infectious diseases that have become less prevalent in host countries. ‘These include methicillin-resist- ant Staphylococcus aureus, HIV and tuberculosis. Infectious diseases car- ried and transmitted by travellers and migrants increase the disease burden. ‘We recommend that public health facilities maintain and step up screening programmes and put the appropriate precautions and proce- dures in place to most effectively protect migrants and domestic pop- ulations in host countries.’ Clearly, politicians and health pro- fessionals worldwide face a number of unique public health challeng- es due to migrations. The refu- gee health researchers presented Continued on page 2 Late-breaking refugee health research at ECCMID 2016 conference Medics urged to organise refugee screening that more than a third of refugees from the Middle East were colonised by ESBL compared with less than a quarter in the general refugee population. The authors concluded that the increased rate of colonisation at body surfaces with resistant bacteria among refugees from certain areas needs to be taken into account in case of illness and admission to a hospital. Norway An analysis of the impact of immi- grants and importation in Norway from 2006-2015, showed that the reporting rate of MRSA infections continues to increase there, boosted by imported cases, particularly in younger people and those with an immigrant background. The presented data suggests that tourism and immigration may be important drivers for the current rise in MRSA infections. Germany A screening of 20,312 stool sam- ples taken at refugee centres in Thuringia, Germany, showed that, in 2015, one in every 300 refugees car- ried Salmonella or Shigella. As many as six ESBL-positive Shigella strains were isolated from Syrian children – two of them were resistant to cip- rofloxacin. As a result of these find- ings, the surveillance programme with screenings for Salmonella and © picture alliance / Gero Breloer V O L 25 I S S U E 2 / 16 • M AY / J U N E 2016

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