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close this bookEpidemiologic Surveillance after Natural Disaster (PAHO - OPS; 1982; 105 pages) [FR] [ES]
close this folderPart 1 : Epidemiologic surveillance and disease control after natural disaster
close this folderChapter 2 : Postdisaster potential of communicable disease epidemics
View the documentExposure of susceptibles to endemic communicable disease
View the documentIncreases in levels of endemic communicable disease in local populations
View the documentSpecial problems with communicable disease in encamped populations
View the documentCommunicable diseases after disasters

Special problems with communicable disease in encamped populations

Experience in both the historic and the modern eras has repeatedly shown that the threat of communication of disease is greatest among crowded encamped populations, and that the likelihood of a serious outbreak increases with time. The danger is rather independent of the natural or manmade disaster which produced the encampment (21). The preventive medical officer should, therefore, prefer to have affected populations return to their homes or be promptly resettled. When this is not feasible, housing the population in dispersed temporary quarters with unaffected kin, or in nearby communities, is preferable to instituting encampment. However, the relief administrator of: ten responds to the instinctive feeling that the situation can be better managed and the needs of those most affected by the disaster more efficiently provided when they are congregated.

When it is unavoidable to institute encampment for extended periods, the risks of communicable disease can be reduced through strict supervision of meticulous attention to sanitation. Measures that should be taken are described in detail by Asar (22) and are summarized in Annex 4. Civilian authorities often find it difficult to organize and then indefinitely sustain needed military discipline. If the camps are occupied by refugees or independent-minded citizens, they are likely to eventually rebel.

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