Incidence of infectious diseases after earthquakes
Citation: Najafi S, Rezayat AA, Beyzaei SF, et al. Incidence of infectious diseases after earthquakes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health. 2022;202:131-8.
Language: Full text and abstract only available in EN.
Free to view: No.
Funding sources: The authors reported that the review did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
What is this? Earthquakes are common disasters that may lead to many adverse health consequences, including an increase in infectious diseases.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of the incidence of infectious diseases in relation to earthquakes. They restricted their searches to articles published in English up to March 2020. They included 24 studies from China (2 studies), Ecuador (2), Haiti (1), Iran (4), Italy (2), Japan (7), Pakistan (2), Philippines (1), Solomon Islands (1) and USA (1).
What was found: The overall incidence of infectious diseases increased after an earthquake.
Gastrointestinal (mainly hepatitis and diarrhoea), dermatologic (mainly leishmaniasis) and respiratory diseases were the most common infectious diseases that were reported to increase after an earthquake.
Implications: The authors concluded that governments should have adequate plans to prevent infectious disease outbreaks before and after disasters, including vaccination provision and adequate emergency health services before the disaster, and adequate shelters, clean water, sufficient food supplies and a reliable health system immediately after the disaster. They also stated that more research is needed to understand the impact of seasons and weather on infectious diseases after earthquakes.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence and time-dependent relationships (pre- and post-disaster preparedness).
This summary was prepared by Yasmeen Saeed, checked by Ana Beatriz Pizarro and Cristián Mansilla, and finalized by Mike Clarke.