The Syrian conflict and infectious diseases

Abstract

The conflict in Syria is a big humanitarian emergency. More than 200,000 Syrians have been killed, with more than half of the population either having been displaced or having immigrated. Healthcare has been interrupted due to the destruction of facilities, a lack of medical staff, and a critical shortage of life-saving medications. It produced suitable conditions leading to the re-emergence of tuberculosis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, polio, and measles. Lebanon and Jordan reported increased rates of tuberculosis among Syrian refugees. Cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreaks were noted not only in Syria but also in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. After a polio-free 15 years, Syria reported a polio outbreak. Ongoing measles outbreaks in the region was accelerated by the conflict. Iraq declared a cholera outbreak among the Syrian refugees. The healthcare facilities of the countries hosting immigrants, mainly Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, are overburdened. The majority of the immigrants live in crowded and unsanitary conditions. Infectious diseases are big challenges for Syria and for the countries hosting immigrants. More structured support from international organizations is needed for the prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases.

Medical conditions and treatment in a transit camp in Serbia for Syrian, Afghani, and Iraqi migrants

“…In contrast to the present study, the incidence of chronic infectious diseases rose in Syria during the last few years (Ozaras et al 2016a). Chronic infectious diseases (tuberculosis, hepatitis) were probably underdiagnosed in our setting because of lack of diagnostic tools.…”

“…Table 1 presents the percentages of people within categories as a function of the main variables in the present study. The participants' age was divided into four groups: infants (≤ 1), pre-school (Bradby et al 2015;Glass et al 1980;Ackerman 1997;Lim et al 2005;Doocy et al 2015), schoolage (Cetorelli et al 2017;Ozaras et al 2016b;Ozaras et al 2016a;Natan-iha.org, 2018;Humedica.org, 2016; http:// data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean, 2018; Gulacti et al 2017;van Berlaer et al 2016;Sharara and Kanj 2014;Alpak et al 2015;Kimerling et al 2006) and adults (≥ 18) years. There were too few elderly to include as a separate age group (Only 68 patients, 3.2%, were above the age of 60 years).…”

“…Cetorelli et al (2017) conducted among 1300 households in settled camps in Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) reported hypertension (19.4%), musculoskeletal conditions (13.5%), diabetes (9.7%), and cardiovascular diseases (6.3%) among 8360 of the household members. Studies on morbidity of refugees along the Balkan route indicate that infectious diseases are the most common ailment among the refugees (Ozaras et al 2016b;Ozaras et al 2016a). This study describes the prevalence of health conditions and treatments as well as the demographic correlates (age, gender, country of origin) of clients arriving at one clinic on the Balkan route within a transit camp.…”

Infectious Diseases among Refugee Children

“…Declines in MMR vaccine coverage secondary to vaccine safety concerns have been reported in children born to Somali parents in Minnesota compared with children born to non-Somali parents [87]. In conflict settings, outbreaks of polio and other VPDs are a major cause of morbidity and mortality, with the potential to spill over to neighboring nations [88][89][90][91].…”

Emerging infectious diseases and blood donation

“…The use of antibiotics and antifungals in agriculture is another cause for EIDs as the pathogens become resistant and hard to treat leading to re‐emerging of previously controllable infections, and at the same time, in several countries, there has been little control with prescription of antibiotics for humans while poor adherence to treatment has allowed for more pathogens to become resistant as with the occurrence of treatment‐resistant tuberculosis and malaria . Other diseases may re‐emerge as a consequence of failure in the healthcare system, and examples are outbreaks of polio and measles in war zones in Syria and cholera in refugee camps . If these diseases are re‐emerging, others may also emerge and spread.…”