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Demographic and Travel Characteristics of Travel-Associated Zika Virus Infection Case-Patients in San Diego County, California (January 1, 2016–March 31, 2017)

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Abstract

Most Zika disease cases diagnosed in the continental US have been associated with travel to areas with risk of Zika transmission, mainly the Caribbean and Latin America. Limited information has been published about the demographic and travel characteristics of Zika case-patients in the United States, besides their age and gender. During 2016–2017 the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, California, expanded the scope and completeness of demographic and travel information collected from Zika case-patients for public health surveillance purposes. The majority (53.8%) of travel-related Zika virus infection case-patients (n = 78) in the county were Hispanic, significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) than the 33.0% of Hispanics in the county. Foreign-born residents, mainly from Mexico, were also overrepresented among cases compared to their share in the county population (33.3 vs. 23.0%; p ≤ 0.05). Seventeen (21.8%) patients reported a primary language other than English (14 Spanish). Most case-patients traveled for tourism (54%) or to visit friends and relatives (36%). This surveillance information helps identify higher-risk populations and implement culturally targeted interventions for Zika prevention and control.

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Funding

Funding was provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative Agreement No. 1U38OT000143-04)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, 3851 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA, 92110, USA

    Gabriela Escutia, Eric McDonald & Jessica Healy

  2. Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3851 Rosecrans St., MS-P575, San Diego, CA, 92110, USA

    Alfonso Rodríguez-Lainz

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA

    Jessica Healy

Authors
  1. Gabriela Escutia
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  2. Eric McDonald
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  3. Alfonso Rodríguez-Lainz
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  4. Jessica Healy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alfonso Rodríguez-Lainz.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The San Diego County Health and Human Services Ethics Committee determined this project not to be human subject research requiring institutional review board approval.

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Escutia, G., McDonald, E., Rodríguez-Lainz, A. et al. Demographic and Travel Characteristics of Travel-Associated Zika Virus Infection Case-Patients in San Diego County, California (January 1, 2016–March 31, 2017). J Community Health 43, 566–569 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-017-0453-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-017-0453-1

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