ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to detect the infectious diseases prevalent among immigrants and to control their spread in Kuwait. More than 200,000 immigrants come to Kuwait every year for residence or work, and the majority of them [75%] come from developing countries w h e re infectious diseases are endemic. All the immigrants were checked for infectious diseases like, malaria, filaria, tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis B and C before they were issued a residence permit. These tests were performed between 1991 and 1999. The screened population consisted of 921,012 for malaria and filaria; 1,645,052 for HIV; 326,246 for hepatitis B and C and 1,645,052 for tuberculosis. The total number of persons infected with all the five diseases was 11,545 [0.2%]. About 1366 [0.15%] individuals were infected with malaria; 691 [0.08%] with filaria; 591 [0.04%] with HIV; 1194 [0.4%] with hepatitis B; 628 [0.2%] with hepatitis C and 7075 [0.4%] with tuberculosis. All the newly arrived immigrants infected with malaria were treated in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. Those with filaria, HIV, hepatitis B and C were deported to their country of origin because of the risk of transmission of these