Infectious Diseases Seen in a Primary Care Clinic in Leogane, Haiti

Ami Neuberger IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Shiri Tenenboim IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Miri Golos IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Racheli Pex IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Yonah Krakowsky IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Marnina Urman IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Spencer Vernet IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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Eli Schwartz IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti; Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel; Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0426
Volume/Issue:
Volume 86: Issue 1
Page(s):
11–15
Restricted access
Get Permissions

All diseases diagnosed in a primary healthcare clinic situated in Leogane, Haiti, were recorded prospectively during a 7-month period. Among the patients in this cohort, 2,821 of 6,631 (42.6%) presented with an infectious disease. The three most common syndromes among the patients presenting with infections were respiratory tract infections (33.5%), suspected sexually transmitted diseases—mostly among females with recurrent disease (18.1%)—and skin and soft tissue infections, including multiple cases of tinea capitis (12.8%). Of the 255 patients presenting with undifferentiated fever, 76 (29.8%) were diagnosed with falciparum malaria. Other vector-borne diseases included 13 cases of filariasis and 6 cases of dengue fever. Human immunodeficiency virus infection was diagnosed in 19 patients. Four cases of mumps were detected among unimmunized children. A large proportion of these infections are preventable. Concerted efforts should be made to create large-scale preventive medicine programs for various infectious diseases.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Ami Neuberger, Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa 31096, Israel. E-mail: a_neuberger@rambam.health.gov.il
†These authors contributed equally.

Authors' addresses: Ami Neuberger, IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti and Unit of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel, E-mail: a_neuberger@rambam.health.gov.il. Shiri Tenenboim and Eli Schwartz, IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti and Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, E-mails: shirite@gmail.com and Eli.schwartz@sheba.health.gov.il. Miri Golos, IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti and Departments of Internal Medicine A and C, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, E-mail: mirigolos@gmail.com. Racheli Pex and Spencer Vernet, IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti, E-mails: pex.racheli@gmail.com and spenloveminouch@yahoo.fr. Yonah Krakowsky, Division of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, E-mail: yonahk@gmail.com. Marnina Urman, IsraAid Primary Health Clinic, Leogane, Haiti and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, E-mail: marnina@gmail.com.

Copyright:
©The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2012
Received:
04 Jul 2011
|
Accepted:
13 Sep 2011
|
Published Online:
01 Jan 2012
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637
Online ISSN:
1476-1645
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