Details:

Alternative Title:
Pediatrics
Personal Author:
Pezzi, Clelia ; Lee, Deborah ; Kennedy, Lori ; Aguirre, Jenny ; Titus, Melissa ; ... More +
Pezzi, Clelia ; Lee, Deborah ; Kennedy, Lori ; Aguirre, Jenny ; Titus, Melissa ; Ford, Rebecca ; Cochran, Jennifer ; Smock, Laura ; Mamo, Blaine ; Urban, Kailey ; Morillo, Jennifer ; Hughes, Stephen ; Payton, Colleen ; Scott, Kevin ; Montour, Jessica ; Matheson, Jasmine ; Brown, Mary Jean ; Mitchell, Tarissa Less -
Description:
Background:

Elevated blood lead levels (EBLL, ≥5 µg/dL) are more prevalent among refugee children resettled in the United States than the general US population and contribute to permanent health and neurodevelopmental problems. Therefore, CDC recommends routine screening of refugee children aged 6 months to 16 years upon arrival in the United States, and retesting those aged 6 months-<6 years between 3 and 6 months post-arrival.

Methods:

We analyzed EBLL prevalence among refugee children resettling to the U.S. by country of pre-departure examination and among those rescreened 3 to 6 months after initial testing. We assessed the prevalence of EBLL among refugee children 6 mos–16 yrs) screened during the domestic refugee medical examination between January 1, 2010, and September 30, 2014 and changes in EBLL during follow-up screening.

Results:

Twelve sites provided data on 27,284 children representing nearly 25% of refugee children resettling during the time period of this analysis. The prevalence of EBLL during initial testing was 19.3%. EBLL was associated with younger age, male sex, and country of overseas examination. Among 1,121 children from five sites with available follow-up test results, EBLL prevalence was 22.7%; higher follow-up BLLs were associated with younger age and country of pre-departure examination.

Conclusions:

EBLL decreased over the time period of our analysis in this population of refugee children. Refugee children may be exposed to lead before and after resettlement to the United States. Efforts to identify incoming refugee populations at high risk for EBLL can inform prevention efforts both domestically and overseas.


Subject:
[+]
Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Environmental Exposure
Female
Humans
Infant
Lead
Lead Poisoning
Male
Refugees

Source:
Pediatrics. 143(5)
Pubmed ID:
30996119
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC6959973
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
Place as Subject:
United States
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:f04cc1e3285afb8ac5741a30a14b0385cb9dd33f60200823877b6202b7fdd4f1
File Type:

Supporting Files

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  	NIHMS1065436-supplement-Supplemental_Tables.docx	docx

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