To the editor: Employees author Corinne Purtill’s article on healthcare avoidance attributable to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations highlights an important hole: the general public well being menace posed by undetected infectious illnesses (“In Southern California, many are skipping healthcare out of fear of ICE operations,” June 20). Whereas missed power care appointments create particular person well being dangers, the failure to diagnose and deal with contagious circumstances threatens our complete neighborhood.
When fearful residents cease searching for medical care, keep away from routine visits and skip vaccinations, communicable illnesses corresponding to tuberculosis, measles or seasonal flu can unfold uncontrolled. A single undiagnosed case in L.A.’s densely populated neighborhoods, colleges or workplaces may set off outbreaks affecting everybody — documented and undocumented residents alike.
Public well being relies on communitywide participation in illness surveillance and prevention. Immigration enforcement that drives weak populations away from healthcare doesn’t simply hurt these people; it additionally creates harmful blind spots in our infectious illness monitoring programs.
Los Angeles can not preserve public well being whereas a good portion of our inhabitants stays hidden from medical care. This disaster calls for speedy consideration to guard all Angelenos.
Thomas Klitzner, Culver Metropolis
