Pay attention to drinking water hygiene, prevent heat stroke... Please put away the flood disaster health knowledge points

Pay attention to drinking water hygiene, be vigilant against insect-borne and natural epidemic diseases, prevent heat stroke...

Please put away the flood disaster health knowledge points

Following the "once-in-a-millennium" heavy rainstorm in Henan Province, typhoon "fireworks" also landed on the southeast coast of China twice, resulting in exceptionally heavy rainstorms in Zhejiang, Shanghai and other places, and flooding disasters are very likely in many places. In order to prevent the epidemic that may occur after the flood, the National Health Commission and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have successively issued flood disaster health knowledge tips to provide guidance and suggestions for protecting the lives and health of the affected people. In addition, medical experts have also carried out scientific popularization of relevant knowledge.

Intestinal infectious diseases caused by water pollution are the most likely to occur

Li Tong, deputy chief physician of the Department of Infection Comprehensive Medicine of Beijing You'an Hospital, once said in an interview with the Reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that the most common epidemics caused by floods are gastrointestinal diseases caused by water pollution, including dysentery, hepatitis A, hepatitis E, typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever that can be transmitted through water sources, and even cholera. In addition, due to the hot and humid summer, food is easy to spoil and deteriorate, and it is also easy to cause diarrhea and gastrointestinal infections.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a tip: during the flood disaster, the water source is easily contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites and factory chemicals, drinking such water, using such water to scoop rice, wash vegetables, wash pots and pans or brush teeth, rinse mouth, it is easy to get sick, spread diseases and cause chemical acute and chronic poisoning.

Therefore, the masses in areas where floods occur should pay special attention to drinking water hygiene, do not drink raw water, only drink boiled water or only drink bottled water and bottled water that meets sanitary standards; water intake points should be kept away from feces, garbage, and sewage; polluted domestic water and drinking water must be clarified and disinfected; tanks, barrels, pots, and basins filled with water must be cleaned and often emptied; temporary water sources must be disinfected.

In areas where floods occur, what are the precautions for people's dietary hygiene? The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you wash your hands before and after eating and after going to the toilet, and separate raw and cooked foods; meat and aquatic products should be cooked thoroughly, and no raw aquatic products should be eaten; when eating melons, fruits, and vegetables raw, you must wash them with clean water, eat less or do not eat cold food; do not eat sick and drowned livestock; and leaveovers should be thoroughly heated before eating.

On July 22, the National Health Commission issued the Guidelines for Preventive Disinfection in Flood-stricken Areas (2021) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The Guidelines suggest that food that has been soaked or spoiled by floods should be disposed of in a timely manner, and that any food soaked by floods should not be consumed. The combustible food should be fully heated and eaten, and the meal (drink) utensils should be boiled and disinfected after cleaning, and the boiling time should be more than 15 minutes. People whose skin is red and swollen due to prolonged flood soaking and damage should seek medical attention in time, and can also be disinfected with iodine or other skin disinfectants.

Xu Shengyong, assistant director of the emergency department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, added that the people in the disaster area should also pay attention to rest, enhance personal resistance, once trauma needs to be treated and disinfected as soon as possible, if a mass incident is found, such as a gathering of three or more people with similar symptoms need to be reported as soon as possible to prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases.

Be wary of insect-borne and natural diseases

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that we should be vigilant against insect-borne and natural diseases. Natural diseases of epidemic origin refer to diseases that have existed for a long time under natural conditions, are endemic among wild animals, and can infect humans under certain conditions.

Natural epidemic diseases are significantly affected by natural factors, due to changes in the natural environment during floods, including changes in temperature, humidity, water level and habitat of vector organisms, which affect the growth, reproduction and living habits of pathogens, infectious agents, vectors and hosts.

On the other hand, during the occurrence of natural disasters, the living conditions of the people in the disaster areas are poor, malnutrition, and mental depression, which reduce the body's resistance to diseases and damage the health and disease prevention measures in the disaster areas, which are likely to lead to the epidemic and outbreak of natural epidemic-borne diseases.

Therefore, the natural epidemic infectious diseases that need to be prevented after the flood include renal syndrome hemorrhagic fever (epidemic hemorrhagic fever), leptospirosis (hereinafter referred to as "hook disease"), Japanese encephalitis epidemic, malaria, schistosomiasis, plague, anthrax, brucellosis, etc. Among them, anthrax and hookworm disease are infectious diseases with a high incidence from July to September.

The main reservoirs of hook-body disease are domestic animals such as pigs and rodents, and humans are mainly infected by contact with infected water and soil contaminated with the urine of pigs and rats. The affected areas are high incidence areas of hook body disease, and the people in the disaster areas should avoid contact with the infected water, keep pigs and other livestock in captivity, actively cooperate with the government to carry out patriotic health activities such as rat extermination, and seek medical treatment in time if fever, headache, general weakness and other symptoms occur.

Cutaneous anthrax is most common in anthrax, accounting for more than 95% of all cases. Skin lesions tend to occur on exposed areas such as hands, face, and neck, and are characterized by erythema, papules, and blisters on the skin. The most important measure to prevent anthrax in the affected areas is not to contact sick and dead animals, and if cattle, sheep and other animals are found to have died suddenly, it is necessary not to eat or buy, and immediately report to the local agricultural and animal husbandry department.

After the disaster, outdoor activity personnel need to prevent heat stroke

Flood disaster areas due to the destruction of many houses, many people directly exposed to direct sunlight conditions for a longer time, in this case, the human body temperature regulation is prone to obstacles, easy to appear water, electrolyte metabolism disorders and nervous system function damage and other symptoms, easy to heat stroke.

According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the main symptoms of heat stroke include: fever, fatigue, skin burning, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, chest tightness, irritability, pulse speed, and decreased blood pressure. Severe cases may present with severe headache, fainting, coma, and cramps. If someone has heat stroke, the person should immediately move the heat stroke person to a cool place or an air-conditioned room and give physical cooling. Severe patients need to cool down quickly, wear an ice cap on their head, and place ice packs on both sides of the neck, underarms, and near the aorta in the groin.

Precautions that should be taken to prevent heat stroke after a disaster include:

First, drink water regularly. Do not wait until thirsty to drink, drink more warm boiled water with light salt.

Second, a reasonable diet. The diet is light, eat more foods rich in protein and vitamin B, vitamin C, eat more cold vegetables, bitter vegetables, and eat a variety of melons.

Third, ensure adequate sleep and reasonably arrange work and rest time.

Fourth, reduce unnecessary activities.

Fifth, in the noon direct sun period as far as possible to choose a shady place to avoid the heat, should not be too much activity in the hot noon strong light, such as must go out, should wear loose, breathable light-colored clothes, and wear protective glasses and sunhats. When it is extremely hot, no matter what activities are engaged in outdoors, you should slow down, carry the necessary anti-heat drugs such as cool oil, rendan, ten drops of water, wind oil essence, etc., once you find discomfort, you can use it in time.

China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Liu Changrong

Source: China Youth Daily