Sakchai Himathongkham, DVM, MPVM, PhD and Laura Hardcastle, Chief. Refugee Health Section, California Department of Health Services, 1501 Capitol Ave, Suite 71-5195, MS 5204, PO Box 997413, MS 5204, Sacramento, CA 95899-7413, (916) 552-8252, lhardcas@dhs.ca.gov

Refugees entering into U.S. often come from countries that have a high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) disease. Foreign medical examinations performed on refugees before entering the U.S. identifies TB disease but not Latent TB infection (LTBI). Upon arrival into the U.S., refugees with LTBI infection can convert into TB disease cases. Unless screened and treated, these cases can lead to transmission of TB disease and be costly to control.

The California Department of Health Services, Refugee Health Section (CDHS/RHS) provides federal funding to local health jurisdictions to provide comprehensive health assessments, referrals and health education to newly arrived refugees to enhance their ability to assimilate and become self sufficient in the U.S.. LTBI screening and treatment is a major component to the health assessment. Prior to implementation of the Internet-based Refugee Health Electronic Information System (RHEIS) that captures real-time health assessment data from local health jurisdictions, LTBI screening and treatment data was reported via a manual, paper-based system. The paper reports had limited information and could not be verified for accuracy. Additionally, the CDHS/RHS was unable to perform detailed data analysis and the information was not timely. The LTBI screening and treatment component was incorporated into RHEIS system in late 1992. Recently, enhancements to RHEIS has included electronic tools allowing for data quality verification, detailed data analysis and data presentation. This presentation will describe the process for providing California Refugee Health Assessments with emphasis on LTBI screening and treatment. Results from the first year of implementation will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe how California Refugee Health Section incorporates "Latent TB infection screening and preventive therapy" (LTBI screening and preventive therapy) into its federal funded refugee health assessment program.
• Describe how California Refugee Health Section implemented an Internet-based system to capture LTBI screening and preventive therapy data and its approaches to maintain data quality.
• Describe the results of the LTBI screening and preventive therapy provided to refugees who entered into California during August,1 2002 to September, 30 200
• An estimated number of the refugees are 6200.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.