Abstract
In February 2012, a district health authority received three inmates with bilateral leg swelling and difficulty in breathing from a detention camp for unauthorized immigrants. A case control study was conducted. Fasting blood samples of case and control groups were collected according to instructions of the laboratory for determining thiamine level, and their 1 week dietary intake was analyzed. 9% (21/226) of inmates had bilateral leg swelling, and 75% (6/8) of them had low thiamine level (< 66 mmol/L). Their diet contained mainly polished rice and other items with low thiamine contents. Bilateral leg swelling was associated with history of no meat consumption during past 3 months (OR 8.4; CI 2.2–32.1). Patients were treated with 100 mg thiamine intravenously and 5 mg orally per day for 6 weeks. All patients responded well. The management was advised to provide vitamin B complex daily, and encouraged to provide thiamine rich foods.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. We also express our gratitude to the State Health Office, District Health Office and the Authority of Detention Camp. We would also like to thank everyone who supported this outbreak investigation.
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Abdul Rahman, S., Jeffree, M.S., Kamaludin, F. et al. Beriberi Outbreak Among Unauthorised Immigrants in a Detention Camp in Malaysia. J Immigrant Minority Health 20, 1294–1297 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0674-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0674-5