The besieged residents of Gaza, who have survived so far from Israeli bombs and bullets, are now facing a silent and invisible killer that stalks them: disease.
Food, clean water, and shelter shortages
The shortages of food, clean water, and shelter have exhausted hundreds of thousands of traumatized individuals, and with a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, epidemics will not hesitate to spread in the strip, according to reports from 10 doctors and relief workers to Reuters.
The perfect storm of diseases has begun
James Elder, UNICEF’s chief spokesperson, said in an interview on Tuesday: “The perfect storm of diseases has begun. Now the question is: ‘How bad will it get?’”
Increase in cases of diarrhea and hepatitis
According to World Health Organization data, cases of diarrhea in children under five increased by 66% to 59,895 cases from November 29 to December 10, and by 55% for the rest of the population during the same period. The UN agency mentioned that the figures were necessarily incomplete due to the collapse of all systems and services in Gaza due to the war.
Surge in cases of dehydration and severe diarrhea
The head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that his department is flooded with children suffering from severe dehydration, causing kidney failure in some cases, while severe diarrhea was four times higher than normal rates.
Spread of infectious diseases
He added that he was aware of 15 to 30 cases of hepatitis in Khan Younis over the past two weeks: “The incubation period for the virus is three weeks to a month, so after a month there will be an explosion in the number of hepatitis cases.”
Shortage of medications and shelter
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed on December 1, hundreds of thousands have had to move to temporary shelters – abandoned buildings, schools, and tents. Relief workers said many others are sleeping outdoors with limited access to toilets or water for bathing.
Closure of hospitals and lack of healthcare
At the same time, 21 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza have been closed, with 11 operating partially and four minimally, according to World Health Organization figures on December 10.
Warning of the spread of infectious diseases
Marie-Aure Perro, medical emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders operations in Gaza, stated that the medical organization vacated a health center in Khan Younis 10 days ago – as the area was under Israeli evacuation orders – where they treated respiratory infections, diarrhea, and skin infections.
Potential infectious diseases
She noted that there are two inevitabilities now. “The first is the spread of an epidemic like dysentery in Gaza, if we continue at this rate of cases, and the second is that the health ministry and humanitarian organizations won’t be able to support the response to those epidemics,” she said.
Medical practice under attack
Academic researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine warned in a report they published on November 6 – a month after Hamas’s attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war – about worsening indirect health effects of the conflict over time.
Spread of infectious diseases
They stated that two months into the war, the burden of malnutrition among infants will increase due to disrupted feeding and care, and maternal malnutrition will worsen. “Over time, the likelihood of emerging communicable infectious diseases increases. Risk factors: overcrowding, inadequate (water and sanitation).”
Warning of the spread of infectious diseases
Relief workers say that what experts in London predicted is exactly what is happening now. Three experts stated that diseases such as dysentery and watery diarrhea could end up killing as many children as the Israeli bombings have so far.
Impact
The War on Health
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated that two months of brutal warfare alongside a “very tight blockade” have forced 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza out of a total population of 2.3 million to seek shelter in its sites in the coastal enclave by the Mediterranean Sea.
Shortage of Healthcare
Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s Director of Communications, said, “Many of the shelters are overcrowded with people seeking safety, at four or five times their capacity.” She added, “Most shelters are not equipped with toilets or showers or clean water.”
Attacks on Healthcare Services
Since the beginning of the war, at least 364 attacks on healthcare services in Gaza have been recorded since October 7, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, in a statement issued on December 7.
Warning of Infectious Diseases
Saleem Namour, a Syrian surgeon who treated sick and injured patients in Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus during a years-long siege imposed by the Syrian government, said the images from Gaza remind him of the scenes he personally experienced.
Shortage of Vaccines and Medicines
He stated that hepatitis and tuberculosis spread in Ghouta due to the destruction of the sewage system and water contamination. He added that malnutrition weakens people’s immunity and, alongside injuries from shelling, the lack of medicines and vaccines for children encourages the spread of diseases.
Shortage of Vaccines for Children
The Gaza Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that its stock of vaccines for children has run out. The following night, strong winds and heavy rain ripped apart the flimsy tents in Rafah camp and flooded the ground, forcing people to spend the night huddled together in the cold on the damp sand.
Warning of Infectious Diseases
The United Nations is tracking the spread of 14 diseases with “epidemic potential” and is very concerned about rising rates of diarrhea, watery diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections, according to a list currently used by the UN for Gaza, which Reuters saw on Tuesday.
Warning of Diarrhea Outbreak
Dr. Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is working in Cairo on the UN response, said an outbreak of diarrhea could occur anytime soon unless more aid trucks are allowed and clean water is provided.
Food Shortage
The United Nations World Food Programme said on Monday that 83% of the people who have moved to southern Gaza are not getting enough food.
Warning of Infectious Diseases
Relief workers stated that hospitals and health centers must be able to treat large numbers of people afflicted with such diseases, rather than just the trauma injuries they are already experiencing.
Shortage of Water, Food, and Medicines
Relief workers emphasized that drinking and showering water must meet the minimum requirements according to emergency humanitarian standards, while greater supplies of food and medicine should be provided to Gaza, along with a safe passage for aid convoys to deliver it, according to relief workers.
Attacks on Healthcare Services
Doctors at Abu Yusuf al-Najar Hospital in Rafah told Reuters on Tuesday that they are overwhelmed with hundreds of patients needing treatment for infections and infectious diseases due to the displaced conditions in the overcrowded shelters.
Shortage of Healthcare
The head of the pediatrics department at Nasser Hospital, Dr. Al-Fara, said the ongoing hostilities have made it impossible for many families to bring their sick children in for timely care, which he cannot sufficiently provide due to the lack of medicines.
Shortage of Food and Water
Doctors and relief workers stated that without clean water to mix with powdered formula, children are also suffering from hunger. They said even wealthy Palestinians working for international agencies or media companies have children who are sick now and do not have enough food or water.
Conditions
Poor Conditions in the Camps
As he stands amid a sea of tents near Nasser Hospital, Mahmoud Abu Sharakh, who fled northern Gaza early in the war with three children all under three years old, pointed out the dire conditions around him in the makeshift camp.
“The children improve for two days, and on the third day, they get sick again.”
Source: https://www.aol.com/gaza-faces-perfect-storm-deadly-060346472.html
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-no-posts-message{
}@media screen and (max-width: 480px) {
.lwrp.link-whisper-related-posts{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-title{
}.lwrp .lwrp-description{
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container{
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-multi-container ul.lwrp-list{
margin-top: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
padding-top: 0px;
padding-bottom: 0px;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-double,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-triple{
width: 100%;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container{
justify-content: initial;
flex-direction: column;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-row-container .lwrp-list-item{
width: 100%;
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item:not(.lwrp-no-posts-message-item){
}
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-link .lwrp-list-link-title-text,
.lwrp .lwrp-list-item .lwrp-list-no-posts-message{
};
}
Leave a Reply