Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Are Thriving.

• Position: ICE DETENTION CENTERS

More than a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers experienced large, repeated outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses in the last three years, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

Between Jan. 1, 2017-March 22, 2020, the researchers identified 1,280 cases of influenza, 1,052 cases of chickenpox, and 301 cases of mumps. There were 41 flu outbreaks, 26 chickenpox outbreaks, and 12 mumps outbreaks.

"These numbers are pretty shocking, and very concerning," says first author Nathan C. Lo, resident physician and public health scientist. "They suggest this vulnerable population is being placed at very high risk for these infections while being detained."

The study most likely underestimates the number of infections. The scientists only were able to get data from the 22 centers that have the ICE electronic health record system and are served by ICE Health Service Corps. That is a small subset of the 315 facilities around the country, some of which are privately managed, that house detained migrants.

Given how widespread the outbreaks were, Lo says...