Experts warn of contamination in the earthquake area
Experts began to warn about the risk of infection, especially due to the weather conditions, in the residential areas that were set up to heal the wounds in the earthquake zone as quickly as possible. In light of the data obtained in the context of the health problems experienced in the preceding earthquake zones, Pediatric Health and Diseases Intensive Care Specialist Prof. Dr. Ahmet Güzel placed particular emphasis on the immune systems of children in the region and vaccines.
Speaking about the spread of many infections within the subject, Pediatric Health and Diseases Intensive Care Specialist Prof. Dr. Ahmet Güzel said: “Children’s immune systems are becoming more sensitive. The climatic conditions there are unfortunately very bad at the moment. The fact that the children who were under the rubble in the earthquake have fought a long struggle for life lowers their immune systems. At the same time, even if they were not under the rubble, the fact that the water and other sanitary conditions in their living areas are not sufficient at the moment increases the situation against infections.
First of all, to draw attention to the tetanus vaccine, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Güzel said: “Although our Ministry of Health’s vaccination programs protect against infections, it is of course important to inform society about various issues. One of the first to come into consideration is wound infections. Wound infections, especially in children who have been under rubble, lost nerve damage or numbness from a cold, and foreign objects in the wounds further increase the chance of infection. In addition, one of the things we should pay attention to for those who are in childhood would be vaccination. Especially against tetanus. In our country, the Ministry of Health makes tetanus vaccines quite regularly, but if we have an infected wound, we should definitely get a tetanus vaccine in people of a certain age, in adolescence, who have not been vaccinated in the past 5 years. have been vaccinated less than 3 times or whose vaccination status is unknown. These should be linked to a calendar periodically,” he said.
Similarly, advises Prof. Dr. Güzel said: “After the earthquake, we often deal with infections of the lower and upper respiratory tract. Infectious respiratory disease can be very common in tent lives in disaster areas and camp areas. Especially with flu, coronavirus and previous earthquakes, many respiratory diseases such as meningococcal infections are common.
In addition, fungal infections in the building dust created by earthquakes can also cause lung infections. We recommend the following, especially children living in tents or in public areas in disaster areas, should be kept away from people with chronic diseases and, if possible, we recommend wearing a mask in that environment. If there is wheezing, breathing around the chest, if we hear something like wheezing while breathing, if coughing attacks are excessive, it should be taken into account that the dust, gas, combustibles and chemicals they produced during the earthquake aspirating can damage their lungs. If they find themselves in such a situation, it is important that they turn to the nearest health care facility.
Prof. Dr. Güzel continued his statements and emphasized the issue of hygiene as follows:
“It has been found that the risk of contamination of sewage and toilet needs after the earthquake can increase diarrheal attacks too much. It can cause epidemics such as diarrheal attacks such as Salmonella, shigella, parasitic infections and cholera epidemics. It is absolutely necessary to pay attention to hygiene as much as possible, clean water and soap must be used.”
Finally, he reminded that even wound infections and crush should be considered important, said Güzel, “Wound infections can increase if we take into account the low immune system in childhood. Therefore, the wounds should be cleaned with clean water. Apart from that, we should not cleaning wounds in bottoms such as rivers, streams and seas. Without a specific muscle injury, your child may develop a bruise. These can lead to what we call muscle crush syndrome. If our children have discoloration, pain, tingling in their arms and if you encounter tea-colored urine when urinating, you should turn to a healthcare facility.