Syrian Refugees and Anticipating

clinics: Crossroads is one of several clinics that will provide health services to Syrian refugees who come to Toronto, which could take in thousands of migrants over the next few months. "We're anticipating a fairly significant surge for our clinics starting relatively quickly after arrival," said Rashid. "What we're anticipating in this group is a lot of garden-variety primary care — kids who need their immunizations, children who have failure to thrive, people who are diabetic and don't know it or people who are diabetic and haven't been able to get their medications or assessments." Refugees will undergo medical testing before they are allowed on a plane bound for Canada, with screening for such communicable diseases as tuberculosis, although Rashid said reports from Europe suggest TB rates among Syrian migrants are relatively low, according to Hamilton Spectator. Doctors also don't foresee more common transmissible diseases to be a major concern among refugees when they arrive in Canada, although there may be cases of infectious diarrhea and leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection that affects the skin. "But certainly we're not expecting the type of infectious diseases we see in many other refugee migrations," he said, noting that with those arriving from Southeast Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, "we have to worry about a lot of tropical diseases, like malaria." Dr. Meb Rashid, medical director of the Crossroads clinic at Women College Hospital in Toronto, which specializes in immigrant health. Tobey Audcent, a pediatrician at the Children Hospital of Eastern Ontario who provides services to refugees at Ottawa Centretown Community Health Centre, said some refugee children may have such ailments as asthma or a respiratory infection. While some refugees may have incomplete immunization records, or no record at all, studies have shown there is no danger in revaccinating, said Dr. The main priority will be making sure kids — as well as adults — are up to date on vaccinations for a host of infectious diseases, among them polio, measles and tetanus. "Those things are hugely important and a big part of the planning," Audcent said of immunizations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.