Hepatitis A Case Soars In Gaza Refugee Camps Crowded With Palestinians

Palestinian refugee camps in southern Gaza. (Source: UNRWA/Hussein Owda)

JAKARTA - Cases of Hepatitis A surged in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, with the United Nations warning of overcrowding was severe, making hundreds of people share sanitation facilities, making the disease's control difficult.

One of the refugees from Ruba Abu Al Khaeer said he spent most of his time visiting the clinic, seeking treatment for his 14-year-old son, who contracted Hepatitis while living in a UNRWA shelter.

This disease attacks the liver and can cause months of disease. Elderly people and people with comorbidities are the most at risk.

"My son, Mohammed, is healthy, but suddenly he starts suffering from fever, nausea and vomiting," Ruba told The National News, as quoted January 29.

Initially, Ruba believed his son had digestive tract infections, which usually occurs in shelters due to unclean water, foods that were not cooked properly and exposure to pollution.

Ruba and his family currently live in a small classroom UNRWA school in Deir Al Balah, Gaza center, after fleeing Jabilia. The area has become home to hundreds of thousands of refugees, even before the current devastating war.

"I started giving him the medicine to clean his intestines, but other symptoms started to appear, like his eyes were yellowing," he continued.

"So, I feel worried because I know yellowing is one of the symptoms of Hepatitis," he said.

This science teacher and mother of four also took Mohammed to the clinic, where a doctor who examined his son confirmed he had Hepatitis A.

Worried about his son, Ruba wasn't sure what to do when the doctor advised him to keep clean in the area where Mohammed lived.

This is an almost impossible task. Like many people in Gaza, he lives with 40 other family members in the same classroom, without any other place to take cover.

Sanitation is almost absent in those camps, with human waste and waste being an unresurable problem due to the large number of people around the camps, amid severe water shortages.

Throughout the war, local and international health organizations have warned of the spread of the epidemic among refugees due to the lack of water.

"We live in unhealthy conditions. My father died in this shelter due to a lack of cleanliness. What should I do? Should I wait for my child's health to get worse?" Ruba said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bahaa Al Al Aloul, who works at the UNRWA clinic in Dier Al Balah, south of Gaza, who monitors the Mohammed case, said the main reason Hepatitis in the area is poor water and overcrowded shelters.

"The main reason for the spread of Hepatitis in the Gaza Strip is the density in shelters, where bathrooms are not clean and many people using the same facility contribute to this problem," Dr. Al Aloul told The National.

"In addition, cooking food in the same room and there are many people who have caused the spread of disease," he said.

Dr. Al Aloul emphasized the importance of Hepatitis patients to stay in a clean environment.

"Unfortunately, shelters have become an environment that spreads disease in Gaza due to overcrowding, especially when waste sometimes overflows in small camps and shelters," he said.

"The only drug I have here is to reduce fever, but hepatitis patients need vitamins to strengthen the immune system, which unfortunately is not available in clinics," he said.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than half a million Gazans, or about a quarter of the population in the region, were hit by dangerous diseases between late October and 8 January, with more than 8,000 Hepatitis A infections, including 6,723 cases across Gaza. children.

About 235,000 people have pneumonia and at least 300,000 people have diarrhea due to contaminated water, which can kill susceptible groups through dehydration and skin conditions.

Meanwhile, according to the United Nations, about 3,000 people fall ill due to diarrhea every day, an increase of 2,000 percent compared to pre-war cases.