Immigration Physical Exams Now Being Scheduled at Passport Health of Sarasota

Passport Health of Sarasota is pleased to announce that its Medical Director has been designated as a Civil Surgeon by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

With this designation, Passport Health of Sarasota can now perform Immigration Physicals (also known as an Immigration Medical Examination) for immigrants to the United States who are seeking to adjust their status to permanent residence (“green card applicants”).

Immigration Physicals are performed most days of the week. Passport Health of Sarasota has the ability to provide the required physical examination, tests for immune defenses and exposure Tuberculosis and other communicable disease of public health significance.  Passport Health also is equipped to provide all vaccinations required by the USCIS.

The Immigration Physical is a two-step process.  On the first visit; the immigrant must provide basic information and sign a required immigration form.  If available, the immigrant has an opportunity to present his or her vaccine history. A physical examination and mental evaluation will be performed and the immigrant will be asked questions about his or her health and immunization status. Based on the results of the exam and the health and vaccine history, Passport Health of Sarasota may recommend testing for immune defenses.  It will also perform necessary blood and skin tests.

The immigrant will return to Passport Health of Sarasota two days later for interpretation of any tests performed during the first visit.  At that time, the immigrant will be advised of the need for any vaccines required by the USCIS. Passport Health of Sarasota carries a complete stock of vaccines and has the ability to administer vaccines the same day.

Upon completion of all requirements for the USCIS physical exam, the immigrant will be given the completed and signed I-693 immigration form.  This form will be provided in a sealed envelope that must not be opened by the immigrant.  The sealed envelope must be provided to the USCIS as part of the adjustment of status application.

Call us at (941) 362-0304 to schedule your Immigration Physical Examination today!

---

July 5, 2011 CDC PUBLISHES UPDATE ON WORLDWIDE OUTBREAKS OF VACCINE-DERIVED POLIOVIRUS DURING JULY 2009-MARCH 2011

CDC published "Update on Vaccine-Derived Polioviruses-- Worldwide, July 2009-March 2011" in the July 1 issue of MMWR. A press summary of the article is reprinted below.    

                                                            ***********************
This report describes countries in which vaccine-derived polioviruses outbreaks were identified during July 2009 to March 2011. Vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), recognized by their high genetic divergence from the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) strains, fall into three categories: (1) circulating VDPVs (cVDPVs) from outbreaks, (2) primary immunodeficiency-associated VDPVs (iVDPVs) from patients with defects in antibody production, and (3) ambiguous VDPVs (aVDPVs) for which there is insufficient evidence for definitive assignment to the other two categories. During July 2009-March 2011, three new cVDPV outbreaks, were identified in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and India; three previously identified outbreaks in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia continued into 2011; two countries experienced importations of cVDPVs from Nigeria; nine persons were newly found to excrete iVDPVs; and aVDPVs were found among persons and environmental samples in 15 countries. Most of the recent VDPVs were of serotype 2. Current and past experience underscores the importance of routine vaccination either with inactivated poliovirus vaccine or trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to prevent VDPV spread. 
                                                                 ***********************
To access the full article, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6025a3.htm