“War and disease outbreaks have always been intrinsically linked, regardless of conflict, time, continent,” Michael Ryan, director general of health emergency management programs at the World Health Organization, recently recalled. (WHO). The situation is particularly critical in Ukraine, while the Omicron variant was still circulating very actively in this country as in the rest of Europe at the time of the Russian invasion.
With population displacements and regroupings, as well as less surveillance of the virus – even if it remains, for the moment, active – all the experts expect to see the epidemic take hold once more. magnitude. “The context is all the more favorable to the virus as fatigue, lack of food and sleep or even stress contribute to weakening the immune system of people affected by the clashes”, also underlined Dr Ryan, during the WHO weekly press conference.
Despite the conflict, the international organization is therefore trying to send oxygen capacity to Ukrainian hospitals still in operation, for the care of the most serious patients. “The risks are all the greater since Ukraine had very poor vaccination coverage before the start of the conflict, with only 35% of the population immunized”, recalls Professor Antoine Flahault, epidemiologist and director of the Institute of Health. Global in Geneva (Switzerland).
Limited offer. 2 months for 1€ without commitment
This also raises the question of the health situation of refugees fleeing the horrors of war. This Tuesday, March 8, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a report encouraging countries bordering Ukraine to strengthen their surveillance of infectious diseases, and to offer vaccination to people fleeing the country. Poland, Romania and Slovakia have indeed eased or abolished all health restrictions (including quarantine), to facilitate and speed up border crossings from Ukraine.
Tuberculosis, a major public health problem
Beyond the Covid, other infectious risks threaten. In Ukraine, recalls the ECDC, vaccination of children once morest poliomyelitis and measles is capped at 80%, an insufficient rate to prevent epidemics and, above all, very variable from one region to another. Here too, European experts encourage host countries to offer new arrivals protection once morest these diseases.
Tuberculosis, finally, is also the subject of particular attention. This pathology indeed remained “a major public health problem” in this country according to the ECDC. The latest available data (published in 2021 but dating from 2019) show a number of cases that are still very high, with 28,539 new patients identified, including a quarter carrying multi-resistant antibiotic germs.
“Since 2020, the Ukrainian government has been doing a remarkable job in the fight once morest this disease. In a few days, the war destroys all the efforts made in recent years and this threatens everyone. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is deadly and contagious. If we lose epidemiological monitoring because of the war, we risk missing the start of an epidemic and arriving too late to contain it”, also alerted Dr. Ryan, Wednesday.
Ensure continuity of care
Under these conditions, the ECDC calls on neighboring countries to strengthen their control measures for infectious diseases. For example, the search for the presence in wastewater of the poliomyelitis virus, but also “syndromic” surveillance (cough, fever, skin rashes, etc.) in the reception centers for refugees.
Another challenge will be to ensure continuity of care for new arrivals, particularly those with chronic illnesses or cancers – faced with the urgency of fleeing, some have in fact been able to leave behind their medication or their medical records, which further complicates their management. Not to mention, of course, care for the injured. The European Commission thus considers that “the main problem will not be so much the increase in the number of cases of infectious diseases in neighboring countries, as ensuring that refugees can receive the necessary care without overwhelming health systems. of these countries”, indicates one of its spokespersons in France.
L’application L’Express
To track analysis and decryption wherever you are
Download the app
But Europe is preparing to cope: a system of medical evacuations of people displaced to other countries within the European Union is being put in place, the Health Commissioner has just announced. , Stella Kyriakides. Some 10,000 available hospital beds have already been identified in the various Member States, and the European civil protection service is getting ready to organize transfers.
Opinions
Chronic
Chronic
Chronic
Diary of a Liberal
