Gastrointestinal infections after earthquake

Yeşim Beşli; Banu Sancak

doi:10.1071/MA23057

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Gastrointestinal infections after earthquake

Yeşim Beşli

^A ^* and Banu Sancak

^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A VKV American Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye.

^B Hacettepe University Medical School, Ankara, Türkiye.

Dr Yeşim Beşli is a medical doctor and microbiology specialist and works at the VKV American Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye. Her academic and research interests include diagnostic microbiology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-related infections.

Prof. Banu Sancak is an infectious diseases and clinical microbiology specialist with 30 years of experience at the Hacettepe University Medical School in Ankara, Türkiye, at the Department of Clinical Microbiology. She is currently the Director of Microbiology Laboratory of the Medical School.

^* Correspondence to: ysm5li@hotmail.com

Microbiology Australia 44(4) 193-196 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23057

Submitted: 21 August 2023 Accepted: 10 September 2023 Published: 17 November 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Natural disasters such as earthquakes resulting in infrastructural damage in affected areas can also result in outbreaks of infectious diseases, with infections usually beginning within 4 days of the initial impact. Gastrointestinal diseases are prevalent due to the lack of food and water supplies. The rates of diarrheal illnesses following natural disasters are mainly influenced by the (i) endemicity of intestinal pathogens before the disaster, (ii) the availability of safe water and sanitation facilities, (iii) the severity of the disaster, (iv) the degree of crowding and (v) the availability of healthcare resources. Among the causative agents of gastroenteritis, viral infections are the most common ones, followed by bacterial and parasitic infections. Maintenance of sanitation and availability of primary healthcare are critical for early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious disease outbreaks following natural disasters.

Keywords: diarrhoeal illness, diarrhoea in resource-limited settings, earthquake, enteric pathogens, gastroenteritis, gastrointestinal illness, natural disaster, outbreak, public health.

Biographies

Dr Yeşim Beşli is a medical doctor and microbiology specialist and works at the VKV American Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye. Her academic and research interests include diagnostic microbiology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-related infections.

Prof. Banu Sancak is an infectious diseases and clinical microbiology specialist with 30 years of experience at the Hacettepe University Medical School in Ankara, Türkiye, at the Department of Clinical Microbiology. She is currently the Director of Microbiology Laboratory of the Medical School.

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