Key facts
- Acute respiratory infections in Gaza are 33,000 cases higher than at the same time last year, the WHO said.
- Respiratory infections make up 11% of all consultations in Gaza, according to the WHO.
- The WHO said nearly a million displaced people in Gaza live in flood-exposed areas, 400,000 of them at extremely high risk.
- The WHO said it faces difficulty getting laboratory supplies into Gaza, which it says are vital for diagnosing patients.
- The Israeli military and COGAT did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The World Health Organization said on November 13 that acute respiratory infections in Gaza stood 33,000 cases above the level at the same time last year, after heavy rains flooded tens of thousands of tents housing displaced Palestinians.
"The numbers already show the pressure," Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, the WHO's representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told reporters in Geneva from Jerusalem. She said poor living conditions and severe overcrowding were driving up infections as Gaza's population is squeezed into an ever-smaller area.
The WHO said the crowding has worsened as the Israeli military expands its control by advancing the "yellow line", a demarcation established under October's US-brokered ceasefire. "That means people are living in more crowded conditions, where of course the spread between humans of a virus is much more prone to spread," Van De Weerdt said.
Respiratory infections make up 11% of all consultations, and the WHO said it expects cold weather, flooding, overcrowded shelters and poor ventilation to push the number higher. Van De Weerdt said a few days of rain had shown what the coming months would bring and that winter had not fully set in.
Nearly a million displaced people in Gaza live in flood-exposed areas, and 400,000 of them are in locations considered at extremely high risk, according to the WHO. The agency said flooding raised the risk of contaminated water, while standing water gave mosquitoes and pests more places to breed, and dampness encouraged mould and bacteria that are drivers of respiratory infections, especially in young children.
The WHO said most medicines are getting into Gaza but that it faces difficulty obtaining laboratory supplies, which it says are vital for diagnosing patients before treatment. "To prevent outbreaks, we really call to let laboratory equipment enter Gaza today, so that we can avoid a public health disaster on top of a disaster," Van De Weerdt said.