Posted on Dec 31, 2023
Health workers struggle to prevent an infectious disease 'disaster in waiting' in Gaza
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/12/26/ [login to see] /gaza-infectious-disease-outbreak-public-health-israel-palestine
In Gaza, the World Health Organization warns that illness may ultimately kill more people than Israel's offensive. Infectious diseases are "soaring," says the WHO. Over 100,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported, with rates among children 25 times higher than before the war.
War has shattered Gaza's health-care system, including its disease surveillance capabilities. So global health groups and health professionals are doing what they can to spot and prevent outbreaks in an increasingly desperate situation.
"It's our way of detecting the emergence of diseases that can result in an epidemic very, very, very quickly," says Rick Brennan, the WHO's Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
In Gaza, the World Health Organization warns that illness may ultimately kill more people than Israel's offensive. Infectious diseases are "soaring," says the WHO. Over 100,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported, with rates among children 25 times higher than before the war.
War has shattered Gaza's health-care system, including its disease surveillance capabilities. So global health groups and health professionals are doing what they can to spot and prevent outbreaks in an increasingly desperate situation.
"It's our way of detecting the emergence of diseases that can result in an epidemic very, very, very quickly," says Rick Brennan, the WHO's Regional Emergency Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Health workers struggle to prevent an infectious disease 'disaster in waiting' in Gaza
Posted from npr.org
Medical
Health
Israel
Palestine
Posted 4 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."UNRWA's Touma underscores the importance of regular and sustained humanitarian aid, including hygiene supplies, vaccines and chlorine tablets. "All those things are absolutely critical in disease prevention," she says.
WHO is hoping to resuscitate one or two of the local laboratories in Gaza that did pathogen screening before the war, though that will take effort and time.
In addition, they hope "to even bring a mobile laboratory from outside," says Brennan. "And we're also looking at options for bringing specimens outside the country, particularly to Egypt, for testing. That's proven a little bit more challenging than we'd expected."
While the logistics of those approaches are negotiated, Brennan says he's relieved that some of the really terrible diseases — like measles or cholera — haven't surfaced yet in Gaza. That's due in part due to pre-war vaccinations.
"If we get an influenza outbreak into those massively overcrowded shelters," says Brennan, "if we've got shigella dysentery, that could rip through a community very quickly and really impact the most vulnerable. To be honest, I'm grateful that we've got to this point. We've got increased rates but we haven't had a deadly outbreak yet."
Whether that good fortune lasts may depend on disease surveillance to identify the first handful of cases of something sinister — ideally, while it can still be contained."
..."UNRWA's Touma underscores the importance of regular and sustained humanitarian aid, including hygiene supplies, vaccines and chlorine tablets. "All those things are absolutely critical in disease prevention," she says.
WHO is hoping to resuscitate one or two of the local laboratories in Gaza that did pathogen screening before the war, though that will take effort and time.
In addition, they hope "to even bring a mobile laboratory from outside," says Brennan. "And we're also looking at options for bringing specimens outside the country, particularly to Egypt, for testing. That's proven a little bit more challenging than we'd expected."
While the logistics of those approaches are negotiated, Brennan says he's relieved that some of the really terrible diseases — like measles or cholera — haven't surfaced yet in Gaza. That's due in part due to pre-war vaccinations.
"If we get an influenza outbreak into those massively overcrowded shelters," says Brennan, "if we've got shigella dysentery, that could rip through a community very quickly and really impact the most vulnerable. To be honest, I'm grateful that we've got to this point. We've got increased rates but we haven't had a deadly outbreak yet."
Whether that good fortune lasts may depend on disease surveillance to identify the first handful of cases of something sinister — ideally, while it can still be contained."
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