This content was published on June 14, 2022 – 13:54
Beirut, June 14 (EFE) .- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Tuesday of the appearance of an outbreak of hepatitis A in the city of Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, at a time when the country lacks vaccines for this disease and access to drinking water is difficult due to the serious economic crisis.
The coastal city, the second most populous in the Mediterranean country, has so far registered 157 cases of hepatitis A, a “highly contagious” infection that is transmitted by the fecal-oral route or by the consumption of contaminated food, according to a brief report published today. by the UN agency.
He warned that the outbreak occurs amid “serious difficulties” in accessing “sustainable” sources of drinking water, which is leading Lebanese families to use alternative sources without their safety being guaranteed.
The WHO attributed the access problems to power outages and the prioritization of other services over the maintenance or repair of water tanks, in the context of the serious economic crisis that the country has suffered since the end of 2019.
The depression, which has pushed almost 80% of the country’s population below the poverty line, has reduced the state electricity supply to just a couple of hours a day, which in turn affects the arrival of piped water to homes, among other services.
Water cuts are especially common in summer, coinciding with a drop in the frequency of rainfall.
In addition, according to the report of the World Health Organization, “the vaccine for hepatitis A is not currently available in the Lebanese market”, so it called on residents in areas affected by the outbreak to boil water before using it. and take care of your hygiene.
Last year, the crisis caused a severe shortage of medicines and medical products, a shortage that has been alleviated in recent months with the lifting of subsidies for them, but which has left them out of reach for a large part of the population. EFE
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