Silvia Angeletti1, Giancarlo Ceccarelli2, Riccardo Bazzardi3, Marta Fogolari4, Serena Vita5, Francesca Antonelli6, Lucia De Florio7, Yeganeh Manon Khazrai8, Vincenza De Noia9, Maurizio Lopalco10, Domenico Alagia11, Claudio Pedone12, Gaetano Lauri13, Rosario Aronica14, Elisabetta Riva15, Ayse Banu Demir16, Hakan Abacioglu17, Massimo Ciccozzi18. 1. Unit of Clinical Laboratory Science, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. s.angeletti@unicampus.it. 2. Migrant and Global Health Research Organization, Centro di ricerca sulla salute globale e delle popolazioni mobili (Mi-Hero) e Sanità di Frontiera Onlus. giancarlo.ceccarelli@uniroma1.it. 3. Controllo Microbiologico e Ispezione degli Alimenti, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna "G. Pegreffi", Sassari, Italy. riccardo.bazzardi@izs-sardegna.it. 4. Unit of Clinical Laboratory Science, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. m.fogolari@unicampus.it. 5. Migrant and Global Health Research Organization, Centro di ricerca sulla salute globale e delle popolazioni mobili (Mi-Hero) e Sanità di Frontiera Onlus. serena.vita@gmail.com. 6. Unit of Clinical Laboratory Science, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. f.antonelli@unicampus.it. 7. Unit of Clinical Laboratory Science, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. l.deflorio@unicampus.it. 8. Unit of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. m.khazrai@unicampus.it. 9. ERC "Mondo Migliore", Cooperativa Sociale San Filippo Neri, Rocca di Papa, Italy. vincenza.denoia@unich.it. 10. ERC "Mondo Migliore", Cooperativa Sociale San Filippo Neri, Rocca di Papa, Italy. maurizio.lopalco@gmail.com. 11. ERC "Mondo Migliore", Cooperativa Sociale San Filippo Neri, Rocca di Papa, Italy. domenico.alagia@coopsanfilipponeri.it. 12. Unit of Geriatrics, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. c.pedone@unicampus.it. 13. Unit of Gastroenterology, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. gaetanolauri.94@gmail.com. 14. Faculty of Psychiatry, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. r.aronica.med@gmail.com. 15. Unit of Virology, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. e.riva@unicampus.it. 16. Department of Medical Biology, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey. banu.demir@izmirekonomi.edu.tr. 17. Faculty of Medicine, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey. hakan.abacioglu@izmirekonomic.edu.tr. 18. Unit of Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Italy. m.ciccozzi@unicampus.it.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: North Africa has become a key migratory hub where a large number of migrants attempt the journey by sea from the Libyan coastline to the south of Europe. In this humanitarian disaster scenario, the Mediterranean route has been one of the most used by illegal boats. METHODOLOGY: In this report, the state of physical and psychological health of a cluster of Eritrean migrants, escaped from Libya and rescued in the Mediterranean Sea after a shipwreck, was described by epidemiological, clinical and laboratory investigations. RESULTS: Data suggest that despite the majority of the migrants being apparently in good health upon a syndromic surveillance approach, most of them suffered a decline in psychological status as well as severe malnutrition. The emergence of infectious diseases, related to poor living conditions during the journey, is not a rare event. CONCLUSION: The present report highlights the risks of failures of the syndromic medical approach in the setting of the extremely challenging migration route and underlines migrant frailties consequent to a prolonged journey and long period of detention. These stressors, which can degrade the initial health condition of traveling migrants, can lead to a premature "exhausted migrant effect" that should be carefully investigated in order to avoid the early emergence of diseases related to frailty. Copyright (c) 2020 Silvia Angeletti, Giancarlo Ceccarelli, Riccardo Bazzardi, Marta Fogolari, Serena Vita, Francesca Antonelli, Lucia De Florio, Yeganeh Manon Khazrai, Vincenza De Noia, Maurizio Lopalco, Domenico Alagia, Claudio Pedone, Gaetano Lauri, Rosario Aronica, Elisabetta Riva, Ayse Banu Demir, Hakan Abacioglu, Massimo Ciccozzi.
INTRODUCTION: North Africa has become a key migratory hub where a large number of migrants attempt the journey by sea from the Libyan coastline to the south of Europe. In this humanitarian disaster scenario, the Mediterranean route has been one of the most used by illegal boats. METHODOLOGY: In this report, the state of physical and psychological health of a cluster of Eritrean migrants, escaped from Libya and rescued in the Mediterranean Sea after a shipwreck, was described by epidemiological, clinical and laboratory investigations. RESULTS: Data suggest that despite the majority of the migrants being apparently in good health upon a syndromic surveillance approach, most of them suffered a decline in psychological status as well as severe malnutrition. The emergence of infectious diseases, related to poor living conditions during the journey, is not a rare event. CONCLUSION: The present report highlights the risks of failures of the syndromic medical approach in the setting of the extremely challenging migration route and underlines migrant frailties consequent to a prolonged journey and long period of detention. These stressors, which can degrade the initial health condition of traveling migrants, can lead to a premature "exhausted migrant effect" that should be carefully investigated in order to avoid the early emergence of diseases related to frailty. Copyright (c) 2020 Silvia Angeletti, Giancarlo Ceccarelli, Riccardo Bazzardi, Marta Fogolari, Serena Vita, Francesca Antonelli, Lucia De Florio, Yeganeh Manon Khazrai, Vincenza De Noia, Maurizio Lopalco, Domenico Alagia, Claudio Pedone, Gaetano Lauri, Rosario Aronica, Elisabetta Riva, Ayse Banu Demir, Hakan Abacioglu, Massimo Ciccozzi.