Study of ‘epidemic’ diseases in earthquake zones
President of Turkish Institutes of Health (TÜSEB), Prof. Dr. Erhan Akdoğan, from Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Prof. dr. dr. Mustafa Necmi İlhan, from Medipol University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology. Dr. Recep Öztürk has made statements about the field studies conducted on epidemic diseases in Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Hatay.
TUSEB President Prof. Dr. Erhan Akdoğan stated that extensive studies were conducted in the field of public health in Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Hatay, noting that the committee was made up of scientists from different disciplines in the field of medicine and sub-workgroups. Stating that both the data in the villages and city centers in three provinces are being examined on the ground, Prof. Dr. Akdoğan said: “Tent and container cities, our hospitals and their capacities were analyzed in detail. Evaluations were made based on the health province coordination data collected continuously from the field.”
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Necmi İlhan said that after the earthquakes, there was no disruption to public health services in the region, such as maternal and child health and childhood vaccination, and they were running routinely. prof. Dr. İlhan said: “It is very important to follow up especially pregnant women, children and chronic patients. Of course, in post-earthquake public health services, it is one of the important components to detect the health problems of citizens with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, along with maternal and child health, and to provide missing medicines. The most important thing here is to provide these inclusive services across the province, i.e. these services are routinely continued, not only for those who live in the center, in container or tent cities, but also for those in districts and cities .
Raising awareness about infectious diseases in the region, Prof. Dr. Recep Öztürk said: “At present, the acute emergency period related to the earthquake is about to end, and diseases will emerge in the expected region and current conditions. In evaluating the data in the provinces in the region, especially acute diarrhoea, various skin infections and especially upper respiratory tract infections, and in the studies we did both in the provincial centers and in the tent cities in the villages, we stated that until now there has never been an epidemic situation in these infections, but under the current circumstances, these “If there had not been an earthquake in the region, we found that the infections seen under those conditions are now appear,” he said.
‘THERE IS NO SITUATION OF EPIDEMIC OR CLUSTERING ON THE FIELD AT THIS TIME’
Prof. Dr. Öztürk continued about their research and results as follows:
“The main reason why these infections are currently under control is the strengthening of the entire infrastructure, the increase in the number of toilets in the affected places, the widespread use of mobile launderettes and the increase in sanitation facilities to prevent these infections. of occurrence. There is a strong integration from the field to the center, both diarrhea and respiratory infections have been established at the most advanced level. There are systems that work with all the major factors, not the airway panel. When such a suspected infection or contagious disease is reported from the field, these factors should be quickly studied in the laboratory facilities here and measures taken for the field. Since most of the pharmacies are unusable, we saw that all necessary medicines were delivered on site. It is provided in all 3 provinces. At the moment we are seeing infectious diseases here as well as infections in another province of Turkey; which is natural. For this reason, we can say that there is no epidemic and clustering for the time being, thanks to the services provided with strong coordination in the field. To prevent such a risk, we saw that there was an active monitoring system with a very strong laboratory system working.”