to the editor: The article on primary care for refugees by Dr. Eckstein lists recommended infectious disease screening and diagnostic tests for refugees. For nine of the 10 parasites listed in Table 5, the recommended screening test is “Three stool ova and parasites tests, collected on three different mornings.” However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for Evaluation of Refugees for Intestinal and Tissue-Invasive Parasitic Infections During Domestic Medical Examination, which were updated in 2010, clearly recommend a different approach.¹ The CDC guidelines recognize that the epidemiology of intestinal parasites varies worldwide, and that implementation of the recommended presumptive predeparture treatment varies by location. Therefore, the CDC’s recommended strategy uses three distinct algorithms based on whether the refugee received predeparture treatment, and with what medication regimen. Specifically, the algorithms rely more on a complete blood count with differential, and less on serial stool ova and parasites testing, than the older sources cited in the article.

in reply: The algorithms to which Dr. Schwartz refers are intended for use during the initial domestic medical examination for all refugees. These examinations and their associated screening algorithms are used by health care professionals specifically selected to perform that initial medical examination, and do not apply to primary care physicians seeing refugees as part of their regular patient panel. Table 5 was meant to serve as a reference for primary care physicians in their regular settings (i.e., not part of the initial domestic medical examination) when refugee patients are symptomatic and an infectious cause is in the differential.

editors’ note: We appreciate Dr. Schwartz’s letter and Dr. Eckstein’s response on recommended screening and diagnostic tests for infectious diseases in refugees. The online version of Table 5 has been revised to reflect that, in symptomatic patients, there is also a role for selected serologic tests (e.g., complete blood count that may indicate eosinophilia) in addition to stool testing for ova and parasites.