Health Status of Adopted Chinese Orphans on Arrival in the US
From the International Adoption Clinics at the University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN and Tufts New England Medical Center, Boston, MA and the
office of Dr. Michael Traister, New York, NY.
Over a 36 month period, information was collected via direct examination
(49%) or through a mail-in questionnaire (51%) from 154 Chinese children.
Most (98%) were girls. Children arrived in at an average age of 10 months
and had been living in orphanages for an average of 9 months.
Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases commonly encountered in international adoptees were rare.
Of those children tested, hepatitis B and intestinal parasites were
encountered in less than 5% of adoptees. Syphilis and tuberculosis were
diagnosed in less than 2%. No child was positive for the AIDS virus. An
unexplained cluster of hepatitis C infected infants in Yangzhou was
confirmed.
Lead Levels
Blood lead levels were normal in 90% of children tested (n=31) and only
mildly elevated in the remainder.
Development
Assessment of 19 infants in six areas revealed abnormalities in one or more
areas of development in two-thirds of children. Strength and gross motor
skills were affected most commonly while tone was rarely abnormal. Delays
usually improved rapidly after arrival.
Other
Stature was affected with children falling behind one month of linear growth
for each 3.4 months in the orphanage. Rickets, a diagnosis made frequently
in China was not clinically obvious in any child, but biochemical markers
indicating early rickets were more likely to be found as children grew older.
Summary
Chinese adoptees have few major medical problems on arrival principally due
to their young age and limited exposure to orphanage life. Older Chinese
orphans show more sequlae of orphanage life.