Infectious Disease Risk After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Satoshi Mimura; Taro Kamigaki; Hitoshi Oshitani

doi:10.20965/jdr.2012.p0741

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JDR Vol.7 No.6 pp. 741-745

(2012)

doi: 10.20965/jdr.2012.p0741

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Infectious Disease Risk After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Satoshi Mimura, Taro Kamigaki, and Hitoshi Oshitani

Department of Virology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo Machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan

Received:

August 3, 2012

Accepted:

September 7, 2012

Published:

December 1, 2012

Keywords:

Great East Japan Earthquake, infectious disease, risk assessment, public health, elderly

Abstract

Infectious disease outbreaks in postdisaster settings provide significant social impact although those outbreaks do not always occur. It is important to assess the potential risks of infectious disease in each setting. The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred March 11, 2011, imposed a huge impact on public health services. After the earthquake and following tsunami, many evacuation centers were sites of crowding as well as poor sanitation conditions because of the large- scale of destruction. Some shelters became sites of infectious disease outbreaks such as influenza and norovirus enteritis, although the size of these outbreaks was quite localized. Improvements in the response to infectious diseases through lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake are expected to be the triggers for improving preparedness for public health emergencies.

Cite this article as:

S. Mimura, T. Kamigaki, and H. Oshitani, “Infectious Disease Risk After the Great East Japan Earthquake,” J. Disaster Res., Vol.7, No.6, pp. 741-745, 2012.

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References

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[5] I. K. Kouadio, T. Kamigaki, and H. Oshitani, “Measles outbreaks in displaced populations : a review of transmission, morbidity and mortality associated factors,” BMC Int. Health Hum. Rights, Vol.10, pp. 5, 2010.
[6] Y.Wang, P. Hao et al., “Causes of infection after earthquake, China, 2008,” Emerg. Infect. Dis., Vol.16, pp. 974-975, 2010.
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This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] N. Jafari, A. Shahsanai et al., “Prevention of communicable diseases after disaster: A review,” J. Res. Med. Sci., 2004.

[2] [2] I. K. Kouadio, S. Aljunid et al., “Infectious diseases following natural disasters: prevention and control measures,” Expert. Rev. Anti. Infect. Ther., Vol.10, pp. 95-104, 2012.

[3] [3] World Health Organization, “Epidemic-prone disease surveillance and response after the tsunami in Aceh Province, Indonesia,” Wkly. Epidemiol. Rec., Vol.80, pp. 160-164, 2005.

[4] [4] A. S. Amilasan, M. Ujiie et al., “Outbreak of leptospirosis after flood, the Philippines, 2009,” Emeg. Infect. Dis., Vol.18, pp. 91-94, 2012.

[5] [5] I. K. Kouadio, T. Kamigaki, and H. Oshitani, “Measles outbreaks in displaced populations : a review of transmission, morbidity and mortality associated factors,” BMC Int. Health Hum. Rights, Vol.10, pp. 5, 2010.

[6] [6] Y.Wang, P. Hao et al., “Causes of infection after earthquake, China, 2008,” Emerg. Infect. Dis., Vol.16, pp. 974-975, 2010.

[7] [7] C. S. Chin, J. Sorenson et al., “The origin of the Haitian cholera outbreak strain,” N. Engl. J. Med., Vol.364, pp. 33-42, 2011.

[8] [8] J. T. Watson, M. Gayer et al., “Epidemics after natural disasters,” Emerg. Infect. Dis., Vol.13, pp. 1-5, 2007.

[9] [9] N. Sekiya, T. Sunagawa et al., “Norovirus gastroenteritis outbreak in a large refugee camp in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture,” IASR, Vol.32, pp. S8-S9, 2011 (in Japanese).

[10] [10] T. Hayashi, H. Watanabe et al., “Mass occurrence of flies and seasonal changes in their species composition in the Tsunami disaster region after 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake,” Med. Entomol. Zool., Vol.63, pp. 85-89, 2012.

[11] [11] Y. Tsuda, M. Haseyama et al., “After-effects of Tsunami on distribution and abundance of mosquitoes in rice-field areas in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan in 2011,” Med. Entomol. Zool., Vol.63, pp. 21-91, 2012.

[12] [12] H. Oshitani, T. Kamigaki et al., “Monitoring of influenza in Sendai City and its neighboring communities after the Great East Japan Earthquake,” IASR, Vol.32, p. S6, 2011 (in Japanese).