ABSTRACT

The mass immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel began in the 1980s. For most of these immigrants this was a time of sharp transition from a village life with very basic living conditions, in most cases without a regular supply of water, electricity, or healthcare services, to a modern Western urban society. The aim of this review was to search the medical literature on the characteristics of infectious diseases that are typical in Ethiopian immigrants (EI), using relevant keywords. There has been success in coping with diseases among EI, that are rare although recognized in Israel, in terms of screening and early identification. TB was common in Ethiopia over all the years of immigration to Israel. In contrast, HIV appeared in EI from 1999 when they had long stayovers in transition camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa where there was a high risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases. There were often delays in diagnosing ‘exotic’ diseases that are endemic in Africa, but not well known in Israel, such as Onchocerciasis, Schistosomiasis, Strongyloidiasis, and Bartonella endocarditis, which cause severe morbidity and mortality among EI. We describe the effect on general morbidity in Israel, and how the healthcare services coped with these diseases, including obstacles, and failures and successes. In light of the ongoing immigration of African refugees to the United States and Europe, the Israeli experience can be of value to healthcare policy makers in developing strategies for the effective management by medical staff treating these immigrants.

摘要

埃塞俄比亚犹太人大规模移民到以色列始于 1980 年代。对于这些移民中的大多数来说，这是一个从具有非常基本的生活条件（在大多数情况下没有定期供应水、电或医疗服务）的乡村生活到现代西方城市社会的急剧过渡时期。本综述的目的是使用相关关键词检索有关埃塞俄比亚移民 (EI) 典型传染病特征的医学文献。在筛查和早期识别方面，在应对 EI 中的疾病方面取得了成功，尽管这些疾病在以色列得到认可，但这种疾病很少见。在移民到以色列的所有年份中，结核病在埃塞俄比亚很常见。相比之下，EI 从 1999 年开始出现 HIV，当时他们在 Gondar 和 Addis Ababa 的过渡营地长期逗留，那里感染性传播疾病的风险很高。在非洲流行但在以色列并不为人所知的“外来”疾病的诊断通常会出现延误，例如盘尾丝虫病、血吸虫病、类圆线虫病和巴尔通体心内膜炎，这些疾病会导致 EI 的严重发病率和死亡率。我们描述了对以色列一般发病率的影响，以及医疗保健服务如何应对这些疾病，包括障碍、失败和成功。鉴于非洲难民不断涌入美国和欧洲，以色列的经验对于医疗保健政策制定者制定战略以通过医务人员治疗这些移民进行有效管理具有重要价值。