“There was” in Emilia Romagna after the flood “an overall underestimation of the health risk, in the sense that a week ago I had already warned of the danger of a mix between waste water and sewage, carcasses of dead animals and rainwater”. So to Adnkronos Salute Matteo Bassetti, director of infectious diseases of the San Martino hospital in Genoa.
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“There is no longer a boundary between what is sewage water and the rest, so there is contamination and the risk of infections. Honestly, from a medical point of view, I believe that the residents of some areas had to be evacuated , as happens with an earthquake. The health risk is now high, there have been the first reports of hospitalizations for gastroenteritis and there will be many more. You must not have contact with water, even if you are wearing boots or gloves, it is contaminated. It is not an emergency but there is a risk of outbreaks,” underlined the expert.
“What should be done? Infectious diseases are not all preventable with the vaccine, it’s okay to get booster shots for tetanus and also anti-hepatitis A, you can think of doing anti-typhoid, but – he warns – then there’s a series of other infectious diseases that are transmitted by the fecal-oral route on which not much can be done: Escherichia Coli, Shigellosis. Or even those transmitted by animals such as leptospirosis or giardiasis. You have to be very careful”. warns the infectious disease specialist.
Iss to flood victims: “Drink only safe water and beware of mosquitoes”
Drink only potable and safe water, throw away potentially contaminated food or drinks, protect yourself with sturdy boots and shoes, use repellents and do not leave parts of the body exposed to mosquito bites, keep children away from stagnant water. These are some of the indications of the health authorities to follow in flooded areas. These are listed by the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) in a note by the Group of Experts for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases.
The document highlights how in areas affected by floods such as Emilia Romagna, the risk of certain infections due to the presence of stagnant water can increase. “The possible risks known from the scientific literature and previous experiences mainly concern gastrointestinal infections, legionellosis and arboviruses such as West Nile virus infection”, list the experts. In areas where the sewage systems are damaged, as also recalled by a risk assessment by the ECDC (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control), published on the occasion of the 2021 floods in central Europe, “the risk of indirect transmission increases or directed by various gastrointestinal pathogens, from E. coli to hepatitis A”.
How to reduce the risks
How to reduce these risks? “The recommendation – the experts write in the note also published online on the ISS website – is to drink only safe potable water by carefully following the indications provided by the regional health authorities on the potability of tap water, and to eat food that has not been in contact with water or mud derived from the flood, or with surfaces that may have been in contact with them. If in doubt, throw away potentially contaminated food or drink”. Furthermore, the note reads, “contact with stagnant water should be avoided as much as possible, for example by wearing boots or sturdy footwear”. Particular attention should be given to children for whom contact with water can be seen as a game, the authors of the document point out. “There is always the indication to wash your hands with soap and water and avoid touching your eyes and mouth with hands dirty with mud”.
The ISS explains that, even if “no particular situations of health risk have been reported at the moment”, some behaviors must be avoided. The document reviews all the various risks indicated by scientific data for situations similar to those of the areas affected by the bad weather of recent days and by the severe flood. As for legionellosis, the experts point out, “some studies have shown that more abundant rainfall can be associated with a greater risk. When rainfall is aggravated by floods, the probability increases that Legionella will transfer from the natural environment (rivers and lakes) to domestic pipes. It is therefore important, in cases of pneumonia, to also carry out specific diagnostic tests” for this bacterium.
