Citation

Salazar MA, Pesigan A, Law R, Winkler V. Glob. Health Action 2016; 9: e31320.

Affiliation

Institute of Public Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany; v.winkler@uni-heidelberg.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Centre for Global Health Research (CGH) at Umeå University, Sweden, Publisher Co-Action Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

27193265

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In 2011, the Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB) created the Surveillance for Post Extreme Emergencies and Disasters (SPEED), a real-time syndromic surveillance system that allows the early detection and monitoring of post-disaster disease trends. SPEED can assist health leaders in making informed decisions on health systems affected by disasters. There is a need for further validation of current concepts in post-disaster disease patterns in respect to actual field data. This study aims to evaluate the temporal post-disaster patterns of selected diseases after a flood, an earthquake, and a typhoon in the Philippines in 2013.

METHODOLOGY: We analyzed the 21 syndromes provided by SPEED both separately and grouped into injuries, communicable diseases, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by calculating daily post-disaster consultation rates for up to 150 days post-disaster. These were compared over time and juxtaposed according to the type of disaster.

RESULTS: Communicable diseases were found to be the predominant syndrome group in all three disaster types. The top six syndromes found were: acute respiratory infections, open wounds, bruises and burns, high blood pressure, skin disease, fever, and acute watery diarrhea.

DISCUSSION: Overall, the results aligned with the country's morbidity profile. Within 2 months, the clear gradation of increasing syndrome rates reflected the severity (flood
CONCLUSIONS: Most post-disaster syndromes may be addressed by prevention, early diagnosis, and early treatment. Health needs differ in response and recovery phases.

Language: en